The anatomy of human bodies, comprehending the most modern discoveries and curiosities in that art to which is added a particular treatise of the small-pox & measles : together with several practical observations and experienced cures ... / written in Latin by Ijsbrand de Diemerbroeck ... ; translated from the last and most correct and full edition of the same, by William Salmon ...

ANATOMY BOOK I. Of the lowest Cavity. (Book 1)

The Preamble.

I Am undertaking to write a Book of Anatomy; but am doubtful whether I should term it the Art and Exercise of Physicians, or of Philosophers. For though formerly it was first instituted for their sakes; yet now these are so much taken up with it, that it can scarce be determined, to which Facul∣ty it is more obliged, or to which it is of nearer Affinity: Since in this our Age both the one and the other are as industrious in this Affair, as if the well∣fare of each Faculty lay in Anatomy, and as if both borrowed all their Light from it, as from ano∣ther Sun; so that they who are destitute of Skill in this one Art, are reckoned to walk in darkeness and to know nothing in a manner: Since several others also, who areof neither Faculty, nor indeed professedly of any, are so sollicitous about the knowledge of Man's Body, that may strive how they may bring Anatomy to greater perfection; and most of these men are desirous not only to equalize others in this Exercise, but to signalize themselves above the rest. So that Anatomy, which formerly was undertaken for the sake of Physick, appears now to be the common Pra∣ctice of all men, and as it were the Eye of all solid Knowledge whatever. To whose further advance∣ment, since I also would contribute my Talent, when I have examined first what Anatomy is, and what its Subject, I shall in succinct order take a view of all the Parts of the humane Body.

CHAP. I. Of Anatomy, and Man's Body, its Division and Parts in general.

I. ANatomy is an Art which* 1.1 teaches the Artificial dis∣section of the Parts of the Body of Man, that what things in them can be known by Sense, may truly appear.

The primary subject of Anatomy is* 1.2 the Body of Man, partly because it is the perfectest; partly because the know∣ledge of a Man's self is very necessary, a great share whereof consists in the know∣ledge of his own Body. Besides, Anatomi∣cal exercises are very necessary for Physi∣cians, and were chiefly instituted for their sakes, whose Studies are directed to the cure of Diseases only in humane Bodies, and not to the cure of Brutes, as being unworthy of their noble Speculations, and therefore left to •…•…arriers and other Ple∣beians. So that in this regard the Arti∣ficial Dissection of humane Bodies must be preferred before the Dissection of any Brute whatever; since Physicians may this way far better attain the perfect know∣ledge of the subject of their Art, than if they should search the Bodies of Brutes. In the mean time, however, because humane bodies cannot always conveni∣ently be had, neither will Law nor Piety at any time allow the cutting of them up alive, yet nevertheless it is necessary that we should get the perfect knowledge, of the site, connexion, shape, use, &c. of the Parts by many Dissections and Inspections; for which purpose men use, in defect of humane Bodies, to dissect se∣veral Brutes, sometimes alive, but usually dead, especially such, whose Inwards and most of their Parts are likest in form, site, and use to the humane body; that by the knowledge of them the parts of a humane body may the easilier be known, when afterwards they are once or twice shown in a humane body.

II. A humane body is considered ge∣nerally* 1.3 or particularly.

III. Considered generally, or in the whole, the chief differences are observed in relation both to the shape, stature and colour.

What the shape is in the known* 1.4 World, every one knows, and dayly sees. But they that have seen the East and West Indies, and that have Tra∣velled other strange and remote Coun∣tries, describe many uncouth and un∣known shapes to us. For some tell, how they have found Men without heads, whose eyes were in their breasts: Others, men with square heads: Others, men all hairy: Others, Salvages, whose shoul∣ders were higher than their heads; they write, such were found in Guajana: O∣thers, men with Tails: And others, men otherwise shaped.

Difference of stature consists herein,* 1.5 that some are thick, others slender; some short, others tall. Upper France breeds short and slender men, and very few tall people are found there. Nor∣thern Countries breed tall and strong men: And the Germans come nigh them. England and Holland breed a middle sort. Nevertheless, some very tall peo∣ple, though few, are found in the Low Countries. Ten years agone at Utrecht* 1.6 I saw a Maid Seventeen years of Age, so tall, that a proper man could scarce reach to the top of her head with his fingers ends. Neer Schoonhoven, in the Village Leckerkerck, a few years agone, there lived a Country fellow, a Fisher, commonly called the great Clown, a very strong man, I have often seen him, when he stretched out his arm, the tallest of ordinary men might go under it and not touch it. Anno 1665. at Utrecht-Fair, in the Month of Iuly, I saw a very strong man, and very tall, and witty enough, (which is a rarity in such great bodies) above eight feet and an half high, all his Limbs were pro∣portionable, and he was married to a very little woman, whom, when he Travelled, he could without any trouble carry in a Pouch along with him: he was born at Schoonhoven of Parents of an ordinary size. At the same time a Country wench was shewn, Eighteen years of age, who was nigh as tall as the said man, her whole body was well shaped, but she was of a dull capacity. Yet these rare instances of a vast stature which I have seen (like unto which Pla∣terus Observat. l. 3. describes four more) are nothing, compared with some, which are described by Historians. The body of Orestes, which by command of the Oracle was dug out of the Earth, is said to have been seven Cubits long: which Cubits, according to Aulus Gellius, a∣mong the Romans amounted to twelve

feet and a quarter. William Schouten in his Journal reports, that in the Port, cal∣led Desire, neer the Straits of Magellan, he found men of ten and eleven Cubits. Fazellus, decad. 1. lib. 1. cap. 6. mentions several bodies, found in divers places, some of which were seventeen, others eighteen, others twenty, others two and twenty Cubits long, and one of their Teeth weighed five ounces. Pliny writes, that in Crete a Mountain was broke by an Earthquake, and on that occasion a body of forty seven Cubits was found, which some thought Orion's, others Oetius's. So likewise Camerarius relates divers stories of such Giants, Meditat. Histor. cent. 1. cap. 82.

And on the other hand likewise* 1.7 sometimes men are •…•…ound of a very low stature, viz. three or four feet long. We call such Dwarfs. Formerly I have seen three or four of them. Platerus Observ. l. 3. in principio, describes three such, which he saw. Aristotle lib. 8. histor. animal. cap. 12. writes for a certain truth, that Pigmies dwell about those place, where the Nile runs into Egypt, and they are such short dwergens, that they are not above an ell high. But this People could never yet be found by the modern Seamen, who have sailed the World over (perhaps, because they could not get with their Ships to that peoples Country) and therefore one might very well question the truth of the story, had not Aristotle, who ought to be trusted a great way, writ it. Nevertheless Spigelius does not believe Aristotle, but reckons his story of the Pigmies a fable, being so perswaded, 1. From the authority of Strabo, lib. 1. Geograph. 2. From the experience of Francis Alvarez a Portugueze, who himself Travelled those parts, wherea∣bout Aristotle writes, the Pigmies are, namely where the Nile runs into Egypt; yet he could no where see or find that little Nation, but says, that those parts were inhabited by middle statured people.

The difference of colour is great,* 1.8 according to the difference of Coun∣tries: For in Europe and Christendom people are white, in Aethiopia and Brasile black, in divers parts of India tawny, in some places almost red, in o∣thers brown, in others whitish.

IV. A humane body considered* 1.9 particularly, or according to each part, affords for consideration the neat figure of each part, the most convenient con∣nexion, the admirable structure, the necessary action, and lastly, the great, yet harmonous diversity of all and each function and use.

V. The part of the Body is any bodily* 1.10 Substance joyned to the whole in con∣tinuity, having its own proper circum∣scription, and with other parts making up the whole, is fitted for some functi∣on or use.* 1.11

This is an exquisite definition.

For First, the part of a humane body must be a bodily substance, and such as is joyned to the whole in continuity (a thing is said to be continued, whose least particles stick one to another in rest) not in contiguity: For contiguous bodies must of necessity be diverse, and one may be separated from the other without hurt∣ing either, both remaining entire. For as Wine contained in a vessel cannot be called a part of the vessel, nor the ves∣sel a part of the wine, because there is no continuity between them two; so likewise blood contained in an Artery, cannot he called a part of the Artery, nor of a humane body, since it is not joyned thereto in any continuity.

Secondly, A part must with others make up the whole; for whatever things are above the complement, are not reckoned parts of one body, but are bodies subsisting by themselves, which often adhere to the whole, that they may be nourished by the whole. Thus a child or mole in the womb are not parts of a womans body, but subsist by themselves, and yet by means of the placenta uterina and umbilical vessels, they are joyned to the womb, that they may receive nourishment from it; ne∣vertheless the woman, when she is de∣livered, remains entire. So likewise Sarcomata or fleshy excrescences, and such things, are not reckoned among the parts of a humane body, because they neither make up the complement of the whole, nor are designed for re∣quisite functions and uses, but adhere to the whole, that thereby they may be nourished.

VI. Thirdly, A part must be made for some function or use,

VII. A Function, or Action, is a cer∣tain* 1.12 effective motion made by an Organ, through its own proper disposition to it.

This is either private, whereby the parts provide for themselves; or publick whereby the whole is provided for; for instance; The stomach by a private acti∣on, or coction, converts the blood brought to it by the Arteries into a sub∣stance like it self, and so is nourished: But it performs another action besides,

whereby it provides for the whole Ani∣mal, to wit, chylification.

VIII. The use of a part is a certain* 1.13 aptiude to some proper intention of na∣ture, to wit.

Such as not only turns to the benefit of the part, whence it proceeds, but also respects the good of some other part, or of the whole. It is doubly distin∣guished from action. First, because acti∣on is only competible to parts that operate, but use is often competible to things that do nothing at all, that is to such as help an acting part, so that it may act better. Thus the cuticle acts nothing; but its use is to moderate the sense of the skin, to cover it and the extremities of the vessels, and to defend it from external injuries: Fat acts nothing, it only cherishes and moistens the parts and makes their mo∣tion easier: Hair acts nothing; but its use is to cover and adorn the head, and to defend it from external cold. Secondly, Because action is competible to the whole operating Organ, but use to e∣very part of the Organ; for instance; The action of a Muscle is to contract; but the use of the Musculous Membrane is to contain its fibres, and to seperate it from other Muscles; of the Artery, to bring blood to it; as of the nerves, ani∣mal spirits, to support the fibres of the flesh. Yet oftentimes use, action and function are promiscously used by Ana∣tomists: And the action of a part, be∣cause it tends to some end or other, is often called use: And also use, because it excludes not action, is called action. But use is of greater latitude then action.

Hippocrates divided things that make* 1.14 up the whole into things containing, things contained, and things that move or have in themselves the power of motion. Galen calls these three things Solid parts Humors and Spirits. In this di∣vision the threefold parts of the body are not comprehended, but only three things, without which a man cannot con∣tinue entire, that is, alive. For only the containing or solid parts are true parts of the body. Yet these parts cannot continue alive, except they be continual∣ly nourished by the humors. Not* 1.15 that humors are parts of the body, but the proximate matter, which by coction is changed into the substance of the parts, into which till they are changed, they cannot be called parts; and when they are changed, they cannot be called humors: for a bone is not blood, and blood is not bone, though the one be bred of the other. The same must be understood of spirits, which being made of the subtilest and hottest part of the blood, do very much contribute to the nutrition of the body. Therefore though a man cannot continue alive without these three, yet it does not follow, that all these three must necessarily be parts of the body. A Vine consists of solid woody parts, and a Juyce whereby it is nourished, and yet it is evident, this Juice is no part of the Vine, because if a Vine be unseasonably cut, abundance of it runs out, the Vine remaining en∣tire: wherefore a blind man may see, that it is no part if the Vine, but only liqour, which by further coction would be turned into a Vine. Thus also when there is a Flux of blood by the Haemor∣rhoids, Menses or any other part; or when one makes water or sweats, no man in his wits will say, that then the parts of a mans body are voided, al∣though a man cannot live without blood and serum. But if pieces of the Lungs be brought up in coughing, or if pieces•…•… of the Kidneys be voided in Urine, as it sometimes happens in their exculcera∣tion, then it is certain that the true parts of the body are voided.

Besides, these are parts of the body,* 1.16 whence actions immediately proceed, and they proceed not from the hu∣mors and spirits, but from solids. For the humors and spirits move not the Heart, Brain, and other parts, but they both breed and move the humors and spirits: for when the Heart, Brain, and other parts are quiet, humors and spirits are neither bred nor moved (this appears in a deep swoon) and though there is abundance of them in the body, and those very hot and fit for motion, as in such as dye of a burning Fever; yet as soon as the Heart is quiet, they neither move through the Arteries, Veins and Nerves, nor are able to move the Heart, or any part else, which is a certain Ar∣gument that they are Passive, and that no Action can proceed from them. And that the humors and spirits are moved by the Heart, and bred in it and other parts, will more plainly appear, lib. 2. cap. 11. and lib. 3. cap. 10, 11. and in several other places.

And now though solids cannot act* 1.17 without the humors and spirits, and by them their Actions (in as much as by their quantity, or quality, as their heat, cold, &c. they are able to cause this or that mutation or temper in Solids) are made quicker, slower, stronger, weaker, better or worse; yet they are

without air; yet air is no part of the body, neither does the Action of respi∣ration proceed from it, but from the muscles of the breast forcing it out, though in the mean time air by giving way to the motion of the muscles, and passing in and out through the Aspera Arteria, affords such an aptitude for respi∣ration, as without it no respiration could be performed; though also by its heat or cold it may make respiration quicker, slower, longer or rarer, according as by these mutations the heat of the parts is augmented or diminished, and there∣upon necessity obliges one to breath quicker or slower. So the Heart and o∣ther solid Parts are not mov'd by the hu∣mors and spirits, but act upon the hu∣mors and spirits, they move, attenuate and concoct them till at length they turn their apt particles into a substance like themselves, and so apply and unite them to themselves, and make them parts of the body, which they were not before they were applied and assimilated. For one part of the body is not nourished with another part of its whole, a bone is not nourished with flesh, nor a vein with a nerve, &c. Neither can that which nourishes the parts, by any means be called a part, for otherwise there would be no difference between a part and its nutriment: With which Nou∣rishment, unless the Parts be daily che∣rished, and their consumed particles re∣stored, their strength and substance would quickly waste and fail, and by that failure at length their Action would be lost.

So that Man of necessity must have both Blood and Spirits for the support of Life (hence saith the Text in Levit. 17. 11. the Soul (that is the Life) of the Flesh is in its Blood) as being the near∣est Support of the Body, without which neither the Parts of the Body can act, nor the Man himself live. Yet it does not follow from thence that the Blood and Spirits are part of the Body: For the same might be said of the external Air, without which no Man can live. For take away from a Man the use of external Air either by suffocation or drowning, or any other way, you pre∣sently deprive him of Life, as surely as if you took from him his Blood and Spirits. Yet no man of Judgment will say that the external Air is a part of the Body: Seeing that most certainly, if that without which Life cannot subsist were to be accounted a Part, the exter∣nal Air must of necessity be said to be a Part of our Body, as well as the Blood and Spirits. Moreover it is to be con∣sidered, that if the Humors and Spirits have contracted any Foulness or Distem∣per, they are by the Physicians numbred among the Causes of Diseases, not a∣mong the diseased Parts. Besides, that if they were Parts, they ought to be si∣milar, yet never any Anatomist that I ever yet heard of, recken'd 'em among similar Parts. For most of the Organic Parts are composed out of the Similar. And yet among those Similar Parts which compose the Organic, never did any one reck'n the Blood or Spirits, as Similar Parts. For all the Organs ought to derive their Composition from those things which are proper and fixed, not from those things which are common to all, and fluid, continually wasted and continually renewed.

IX. Therefore the Body of Man may exist intire in its Parts without Blood, Spirits, and Air; but it cannot act, nor live without 'em.

And thus a Man cannot be said to live without a rational Soul, and to be a perfect and entire Man; yet every one knows that the Soul is not to be reck'n'd among the parts of the corruptible Bo∣dy, as being incorruptible, subsisting of it self, and separable from the rest of the Body; since, that being incorrupti∣ble, it cannot proceed from any incor∣ruptible Body, but derives it self from a divine and heavenly Original, and is infused from above into the corruptible Body, to the end it may act therein so long as the Health and Strength of those corruptible Instruments will permit Acti∣ons to be perform'd. To which we may add, that an Anatomist, when he en∣quires into the parts of human Body, considers 'em as such, not as endu'd with Life, nor as the parts of a Ratio∣nal Creature. Neither does he accompt the Causes of Life and Actions, by any manner of Continuity or Unity adhe∣ring to the Body, to be Parts; nor is it possible for him so to do.

And thus it is manifest from what has been said, That the Spirits and Blood, and other Humors neither are nor can be said to be Parts of our Body. Yet all these Arguments will not satisfy the most Eminent I. C. Scaliger, who in his Book, de Subtil. Exercit. 280. Sect. 6. pretends with one Argument, as with a strong battering Ram, to have ruin'd all the Foundations of our Opinion.

If the Spirit (saith he, and he con∣cludes the same Thing of the Blood and Spirits) be the Instrument of the Soul, and the Soul is the beginning of Motion, and the Body be the Thing moved, there must of Necessity be a Difference between

the thing moved, and that which moves the Instrument. Therefore if the Spirits are not animated, there will be something between the thing enlivening and en∣liven'd, forming and form'd; which is neither form'd nor enliven'd. But the Body is mov'd because it is enliven'd. Yet is it not mov'd by an external but an internal Principle. Now it is manifest, that the Spirits are also internal, and that the internal Principle of Motion is in them, therefore it follows that they must be part of the Member.

But this Argument of the most acute Scaliger, tho' it seems fair to the Eye at first sight, yet (thoroughly considered) will appear to be without Force, as not concluding any thing of Solidity against our Opinion. For the Spirit is no more an Instrument that moves the Body, than the Air is the Instrument that moves the Sight or Hearing. So neither are the Spirits the Instrument of the Soul, but only the necessary Medium, by which the active Soul moves the in∣strumental Body; and also perceives and judges of that Motion so made in that Body. So that it is no such Ab∣surditie (as Scaliger would have it to be) but a Necessity, that there should be something inanimate between the en∣livening Soul, and the instrumental Body enliven'd, which is part of neither, but the Medium, by which the Action of the enliven'd instrumental Body may be perform'd by the enlivening Soul. But, saies Scaliger, the Body is moved, because it is enlivened, and that not by an external, but an internal Principle. We grant the whole; yet we deny the Spirits to be the internal Principle, when it is most apparent that the Soul is the internal Principle which operates by the assistance of the Spirits.

So that it cannot from hence be proved that the Spirits live or are Parts of the Body, but only that they are the Medium, by which the Soul moves the Body. But because that Scaliger spy'd at a distance a most difficult Objection, viz. How the Spirits could be a Part of any corporeal Body, when they are always flowing and never in any constant Rest, but continually in Motion through all the Parts of the Body indifferently, to avoid this Stroak, he says that the Spi∣rit's a quarter of that part of the Body where they are at the present time, and when they flow out of that part then they become a part of that Body into which they next infuse themselves; and so onward. But this way of concluding of Arguments is certainly very insipid, and unbeseeming so great a Man, when it is plain from the Definition of a Part, that a part of our Body, is not any fluid and transient Substance but as it is joyned to the Body by Continuity and Rest.

X. The Parts of the Body are two∣fold.* 1.18

• 1. In respect of their Substance.
• 2. In respect of their Functions.

XI. In respect of their Substance, they are divided into Similar, and Dissimilar.

XII. Similar Parts are those which are divided into Parts like themselves. So that all the Particles are of the same Nature and Substance. And thus every part of a Bone is a Bone; of a Fiber, a Fiber. Which Spigelius calls Consimiles, or altogether alike: the Greeks 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, or of like Parts.

They are commonly reckoned to be ten: Bones, Gristles, Ligaments, Mem∣branes, Fibers, Nerves, Arteries, Veins, Flesh, and Skin. To these by others are added the Scarf-Skin, Tendons and Fat. By others, the two Humors in the Eyes, the Glassie and the Crystal∣line; by others the Marrow, the Brain, and Back-Bone: And lastly by others, the Hair, and Nails.

Of these some are simply Similar, as the Bones, Gristles, Fibres, &c. wherein there is no difference of Particles to the Sight. I say, manifest to the Sight, for that in respect of the several smallest Elements, not to be perceived by the Eyes, but by the Mind, of which they are composed, no part of 'em can be said to be really and simply Similar. Others are only Similar as to the Sen∣ses, wherein there is a difference of Par∣ticles manifest to the Sight, as a Vein, Arterie, Nerve, &c. For a Vein con∣sists of the most subtile Fibers, and a Membrane: An Arterie of Fibers, and a double different Tunicle. A Nerve consists of the Dura and Pia Mater, or Membrane, little Fibers and Marrow. Nevertheless to a slight and careless Sight they seem to be Similar, because they are every where composed after the same manner, and so are like to themselves, as not having any other Substance or Composition in the Brain, than in the Foot or any other Parts.

Of the several similar Parts we shall af∣terwards discourse in their proper Places.

Now all the similar and solid parts, in the first forming of the Birth are drawn like the Lines of a rough Draught in Painting, out of the Seed; to which the Blood and milkie Juice contain▪d in the Amnion, and Membrane that wraps a∣bout

the Birth soon after joyning, nou∣rish the Parts delineated, and encrease and enlarge their Bulk.

'Till of late, it was believed that the Blood of the Mother in the first forming of the Parts did concur with the Seed, not only as a material but effective Principle (which Opinion was after∣wards exploded by all the most eminent Philosophers) and that some Parts sha∣red of more Seed, others of more Blood, and others received an equal Share of both. And hence proceeded that old Division, which divided the Parts, in respect of this Principle of Generation into Spermatic, which in their* 1.19 Forming were thought to partake of more Seed than Blood, as the former eight Similar Parts. Others, into San∣guine, in the forming of which the Blood seemed to predominate, as in the Flesh. Others mixt, which were thought to be form'd of equal Parts of Blood and Seed, as the Skin. But this Diver∣sity of the Parts, does not proceed from the first forming, but from the Nourish∣ment, in respect of which some receiv'd more, others less Blood for the Increase of their Substance: Also others are more and more swiftly, others less, and more slowly encreased in their Bulk.

Those Parts which are called Sperma∣tic being cut off, never grow again, or be∣ing broken or separated, never grow again but by the assistance of a Heterogeneous Body. Thus a Bone cut off can never be restored; but it being broken, it unites to∣gether again by means of the Callus, or glutinous Substance, that gathers about the Fracture; but Parts made of Blood are soon restored, as is apparent when the Flesh is wounded or cut off.

Those that are mixed, are in the mid∣dle, between both. Nevertheless as to the Spermatic Parts, when broken or se∣parated, some question whether they may not be united again without the help of a Heterogeneous Medium: and they believe that in Infants and Children, whose Spermatic Parts, as the Bones, are very tender may be united again by Vertue of a Homogeneous Medium. But seeing we find that even in Children and Infants, wounds of the Skin never unite without a Scar, nor fractures of the Bone without the assistance of the Callous Matter, 'tis most probable that in no Age the Spermatic Parts unite with∣out a Heterogeneous Medium; though it be not so conspicuous by reason of the extraordinary Moisture of the Parts in new Born Children, and young Peo∣ple.

XIII. Dissimilar Parts are those* 1.20 which are divided into Parts, unlike in Nature and Substance, but not in∣to Parts like themselves. Thus a Hand is not divided into several Hands, but into Bones, Flesh, Nerves and Ar∣teries, &c.

XIV. In respect of their Functions, the Parts are distinguished two ways.

• 1. Into Organic, and not Organic;
• 2. Into Principal and Subservient.

XV. Organical Parts are such as* 1.21 are design'd for the performing of Acti∣ons, and to that end have received a certain, determinate and sensible Con∣formation and Fashion.

Now that they may have an aptness for the Duties imposed, there are re∣quired in these Parts, Continuity, fit Situation and Number, proper Figure, and Magnitude.

Which Parts are not only Dissimilar, as was formerly thought, but also Si∣milar. For Example, a Nerve, tho' it be a Similar Part, yet because it is en∣trusted with the office of Conveighing and distributing the animal Spirits; for this reason it is no less an Organical Part than a Muscle, or a Hand: and the same thing is also to be understood of a Bone, an Arterie, and a Vein. So that it is a frivolous distinction of Caspar Bau∣hinus, and some others, who while they endeavour to exclude Similar Parts, out of the number of Organic, distinguish be∣tween Instruments, and Instrumental Parts; whereas indeed there is no more difference between 'em, than between an Old Woman, and a very Old Woman.

XVI. Parts not Organic are those* 1.22 which have a bare Use, but perform no Action, as the Gristles, the Fat, the Hair.

XVII. Principal Parts are those* 1.23 which perform the Noblest and Prin∣cipal Action.

By these the Motions of several other Parts are promoted, and from them proceed. And they are reckoned to be three in Number; two, in respect of the Individual; and one in respect of the Species. 1. The Heart, the Foun∣tain of Vivific Heat, and the Primum Mobile of our Body, from whence the vital and Natural Actions proceed. 2. The Brain, the immediate Organ of Sense, Motion, and Cogitation in Man, by means of which all the Animal Acti∣ons are perform'd. 3. The Parts of Ge∣neration;

upon which the Preservation of the Species depends.

XVIII. Subservient Parts, are all* 1.24 those that are useful and subservient to the Principal: As the Stomach, Liver, Spleen, Lungs, Kidneys, Hands, &c.

And these, as necessary to Life, are* 1.25 to be called either Noble, without which a Man cannot live, as the Lungs, Stomach, Guts, Liver, and the like. O∣thers as not being necessary for Life, but are proper for some use or action, which renders Life more Comfortable, are to* 1.26 be called Ignoble, as an Arm, a Finger, a Foot, a Hand, Ear, Nose, Teeth, &c. which we may want and yet Live.

To these may be added, those whose Office is more mean and hardly mani∣fest, as Fat, Hair, Nails, and the like.

Now that the Demonstration of these Parts may be the more conveniently made plain, and described in their Or∣der, we shall divide the Body of Man, according to the modern Anatomists in∣to the three Ventricles, and Limbs.

XIX. The Venters are certain re∣markable Cavities, containing one or more of the Noble Bowels.

In this Place the words Cavity and Venter are not to be strictly taken for the Cavities themselves only, but lest the Members of this Division should be too Numerous, we would have com∣prehended under 'em at large, as well the containing Parts that form those Ca∣vities, as also the Parts contain'd within 'em: together with the Neck, or if there be any other parts annexed to 'em, which may be reckoned to the Members. Afterwards in the following Chapters, when we come to discourse particularly of the several Venters, we shall more at large subdivide 'em into Parts Containing, Contained, and such as are adjoining to them.

XX. These three Venters are the uppermost, the middle, and the lower∣most.

XXI. The uppermost Venter or Ca∣vity* 1.27 is the Head, wherein are con∣tained the Brain, the Eyes, the Ears, and other Parts.

Now there was a necessity that this same Tower of the principal Faculties should be seated in the highest Place, to the end that being at a further distance from the places where the Nourishment is drest, the most noble Animal Functi∣ons should not be disturb'd by its Steams and thick Exhalations: partly for the convenience of the Senses of Hearing, Seeing and Smelling, whose Objects more easily dart themselves from a higher than a lower place into the Or∣gans of the Senses, and by that means become more perceptible.* 1.28

XXII. The second or middle Ven∣ter or Cavity is the Breast, the Mansion of the Heart, Lungs, rough Arterie or Windpipe, and the Oesophagus or Gullet. This the great Creator placed in the middle, that as a King resides in the mid'st of his Kingdom, so the Heart the most noble and principal Habitacu∣lum of Life should inhabit this middle∣most Palace of the Microcosmical King∣dom, and there sit as in its Throne, from thence with more convenience to water the several Regions of the Little World with its Rivulets of enlivening Nectar and Heat.

XXIII. The third Venter which is* 1.29 generally called the lowermost, and concludes with the Abdomen or Paunch, as the seat of the Liver, Stomach, Guts, Reins, Womb, and many other parts, serving for the Concoction of Nourish∣ment, Evacuation of Excrements, and Generation of Off-spring: therefore necessarily to be placed lowermost, lest the manifold disturbances and abomina∣ble filth of this Kitchin should annoy the superiour principal Viscera in their Fun∣ctions.

XXIV. Limbs are the Members* 1.30 adjoyning to the Venters, and distin∣guish'd with Ioynts.

These being granted to Man for the better accommodation of Life, are two∣fold, Arms and Legs.

XXV. The Arms in Man, are di∣vided into the Shoulders, Elbows, and Hands: The Legg is divided into the Thigh, the Shin, and Foot.

According to which Division we have* 1.31 divided this our Anatomy into ten Books. In the first four of which shall be ex∣plain'd the History of those things which are contain'd in the several Cavities and Limbs. In the six latter we shall dis∣course of those things which are com∣mon to the whole Body, the Muscles, Membranes, Fibers, Arteries, Veins, Nerves, Bones, Gristles, and Ligaments.

CHAP. II. Of the lowermost Venter in ge∣neral.

I. IN regard the lowermost Venter contains in it several moist Parts which are liable to putrefaction, the sink of many Dregs, therefore A∣natomists begin their Dissections from thence, to avoid the effects of swift pu∣trefaction, and to remove those Bowels first out of the way, which might soon∣est infect the whole Body, and so pre∣vent a requisite consideration of the rest.

II. This Venter Aristotle (Hist.* 1.32 Anim. lib. 1. c. 13.) properly calls 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉: the Common People simply the Belly, in a more reserved signification: which Celsus willing to distinguish from the superiour Venter, calls Imum Ventrem, the lower Belly.

III. The lower Venter is all that Ca∣vity,* 1.33 bounded above by the Sword∣like Cartilage and the Diaphragma or Transverse Muscle; on each side by the lower Ribs, behind by the Ioynts of the Loyns; and below, by the Bones of the Hip, the Os Sacrum and Share-bone, or Os Pubis.

IV. The fore parts of this Cavity ad∣joyning to the lower Cartilages of the Ribs, and comprehended under 'em, were by the Ancients call'd Hypo∣chondria and Praecordia; being two, a Right and a Left.

V. All that which falls upon the* 1.34 middle Ventricle of the Hypochon∣dria, and the Gutts next to it, for more clear distinctions sake, with Ves∣lingius, is call'd Epigastrium, tho' Riolanus will have it to be the Region of the Stomach: But the Ancients gave the name of Epigastrium to the whole Paunch; which the Arabians call'd Myrach. In the upper part of this Epigastrium is a certain Cavity, by the Greeks call'd 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 and 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉; by the La∣tins Scrobiculus Cordis.

VI. The middle Region is the Re∣gion* 1.35 of the Navel, lying equally from the Navel three fingers above and below, whose sideling Parts are by the Greeks call'd 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, by the Latins Ilia, because the Gut Ilium lies chiefly conceal'd un∣der those places.* 1.36

VII. That part which is compre∣hended between this Region and the space of the Share, is call'd the Hypo∣gastrium, Imus Venter, and Aqua∣liculus. Whose lateral Parts from the bending of the Hip to the Share, are call'd Inguina, or the Groyns.

VIII. The Share▪ by the Greeks* 1.37 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, is that part next above the Pri∣vities covered with hair in persons grown to full Age. Of each side of which are the 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, which the Latins call Inguina, or the Groyns.* 1.38

IX. The lower part between the Root of the Yard and the Fundament, is call'd the Perinaeum.

X. The hinder parts of the Paunch* 1.39 or Abdomen above, are fill'd up by the Loyns or Lumbi, below by the Buttocks or Clunes, which the Greeks call 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 and 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.

The Cleft dividing the Buttocks by* 1.40 Hierophilus is call'd 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, where the hole of the right Intestine breaks forth, vulgarly call'd the Podex or Funda∣ment.

XI. This Venter consists of parts containing or external, or of parts contain'd or internal.

XII. The Containing, which they* 1.41 properly call the Abdomen or Paunch, are either common or proper.

XIII. The parts contain'd are adap∣ted either for Nourishment, Evacuati∣on of Excrements, or Generation.

The Physiognomists affirm that no∣table Conjectures may be made con∣cerning the Disposition of Men from the form and bigness of this Belly. Thus Aristotle affirms that a little Belly is one of the principal Parts from whence Wis∣dom appears in man. Among others, a •…•…lat and hollow Belly denotes a man envi∣ous and covetous. A round Belly beto∣kens sobriety. A swag-Belly marks out a sleepy, slothful, stupid Fellow. A Navel swelling out very much, is a sign of a person given to Venery.

CHAP. III. Of the common Containing Parts; and first of the Cuticle and Skin.

I. THose are said to be the Com∣mon containing Parts, that infold not only this Belly, but cover all the rest of the Body except the Yard, the Scrotum, or Cod, the Eye∣lids, and some other parts that want Fat.

II. These are, the Cuticle, the Skin,* 1.42 the Fat, the fleshy Pannicle, the Mem∣brane common to the Muscles.

III. The Cuticle, or Scarf-skin, which the* 1.43 Greeks call 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 (as it were a thing spread over the Skin) is a thin, fast, insensible little Skin spread over the Cutis, and so closely sticking to it, that it cannot be parted from it, but by the raising of little Blisters by the force of Fire or Vesicatories.

Aquapendens observed it sometimes* 1.44 double under the Vesicatory, divided into two very thin Skins, an outermost somewhat closer, and an innermost much thinner, and sticking so close to the Skin, that it cannot be taken off with a Pen∣knife; which was so provided by Nature, that seeing the Skin is subject to outward violence, that if one Skin should perish, the other might remain entire, and sup∣ply the uses to which the other was de∣sign'd.

IV. It is said to grow from the* 1.45 moisture of the Flesh condens'd by the dryness of the ambient Air; but er∣roneously, in regard it appears to have a Seminal Principle as well as the Skin, or any solid Parts.

It covers the Skin, and shuts up the* 1.46 Mouths of the Vessels that extend to the Skin, and moderates its exquisite Sense, and prevents the overmuch run∣ning out of the moisture.

Iulius Castor of Placentia, and several other Anatomists, will not allow it to be a part of Human Body, for four Rea∣sons.

1. Because it was not produc'd out of the Seed in the first forming of the Parts; but afterwards arises from the Excre∣ments of the third Concoction condens'd and dry'd by the Cold, like the film that grows upon Porridge. Which they say is apparent from hence, that when it is taken away or scrap'd off, it easily grows again, which the Spermatic parts never do.

2. Because it is void of Sense; nor is it wasted, as the other parts are, by Di∣seases.

3. Because it does not live.

4. Because it performs no action.

But all these Arguments are of no force, as being full of manifest contra∣diction. For by the unanimous consent of all Anatomists, even of those that propose these Arguments; it is allow'd to be the first and outermost of all the containing Parts; in which particular they had all very grosly err'd, were it not a part of Human Body. But let us see what weight their Arguments car∣ry.

To the first we say, That the smallest Threds or Fibres of it were form'd out of the Seed, in the first delineation of the Parts. Which is apparent in all A∣bortions covered with a Skin, where there is always a Scarf-skin to be seen; which could not be generated by the ex∣ternal Cold, for there can be no such thing in the clos'd Womb; nor by the driness of any ambient Substance, there being no such thing that can touch the Birth swimming in a moist milkie Li∣quor; and therefore proceeds from some small portion of the Seed. Which is apparent in Ethiopian Infants, as well brought forth in due season, as ejected by Abortion, who bring the external blackness along with 'em out of the Womb. Which Colour only dyes the Scarf-skin, and not the Skin (as Riolanus observ'd in the Dissection of an Ethio∣pian, whose Scarf-skin or Cuticle was only black, the Skin it self being whiter than Snow.) If now they receive that blackness from their first Formation in the Womb, then the Cuticle into which that Colour is incorporated in the very first forming of the Body, had its Ori∣ginal with the rest of the Parts out of the Seed; not from any Excrements, or Viscous Exhalations, in regard that no such things can be at the beginning of Formation. As for its growing again when cut away or rub'd off, it has that quality common also to the Teeth, which are daily worn by Mastication, yet grow again (concerning which see lib. 9. cap. 10. following.) Nay we find, that in the change of Teeth, the greatest part of 'em shed themselves, and afterwards come again. The same quality also is com∣mon to the Sanguin Parts; which are not excluded however out of the num∣ber

of Parts, because they grow again when taken away: seeing they have such a copious nourishment of Blood, that easily admits of such a Restoration. And thus from the ends of the Vessels of the Skin, which it covers and shuts, certain Exhalations breath continually forth like a kind of Dew from the Blood to the Cuticle, for its nourishment, which is sufficient easi•…•…y to restore its decay'd and wasted Particles.

Then if it be generated, as they say, like a Film growing over Milk thickned with flower, that prove; it to be a part of the Body, proceeding from the same Principle with the rest. For that same cream or film in Milk, is not the Excre∣ment of the Milk condens'd, nor any thing extraneous to the Milk, but the thicker part of the Milk, and therefore the Milk.

To the second, we say, that though it be not sensible, nor wasted manifestly in Diseases, yet is it no less a part of the Body than the Bone, which is neither sensible, nor does seem to be wasted.

To the third, we say, 'Tis a false Assertion, that it does not live; for it increases and grows with the rest of the Body, (which Parts not living never do) and is nourished with Alimentary Juices, like the rest of the Parts. Which Juices, though they cannot be manifestly percei∣ved by the sight, that signifies nothing, for that happens to those Juices that nourish many Bones, and the Periostea or Membranes that enclose the Bones, the Teeth and many other parts. Be∣sides, it is subject to its Diseases proceed∣ing from bad Humours and Blood, as is apparent in the Leprosie, the Meazles, and many other disaffections. In some it is thinner and softer, in others thicker and harder. But such differences de∣prive the Cuticle of Life, no more than the Skin, which is subject to the same variety. Lastly, who can be so sottish to believe that our whole living Bodies should be covered and born with a dead substance or matter round about it.

To the fourth we say, That though it do not act, yet the use of it is absolutely necessary; and consequently that it is no less a part of the Body than a Cartilage or Gristle, the Fat, many Membranes, Flesh, and other Parts which are very useful, but perform no action at all.

Therefore we must conclude it a true part of Human Body: 1. Because it is one of those things that fill up the space; for a man without a Cuticle is not a com∣pleat whole man: 2. Because it adheres in Continuity to the Body: 3. Because it is appropriated as aforesaid to a certain necessary use.

V. The Skin, Cutis, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, as* 1.47 it were 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, a Band tying together the parts of the Body; in Brutes P•…•…l∣lis and Corium, the Pelt or Hide is a covering Membranous, thick, genera∣ted act of the Seed, and cloathing the External Body, as well to measure the excesses and differences of tactible Qua∣lities, as to preserve it against the as∣saults of accidental Violences.

VI. It consists of a Substance proper* 1.48 to it self, being of a middle Nature, between a Nerve, a Membrane, and Flesh. For it is not without Blood, nor so quick of feeling as a Nerve; not so thin as a Membrane; nor so full of Blood as the Flesh; but it is indued with Blood, and as it were a Membrane some∣what sinewy and somewhat fleshy, which by vertue of its fleshiness, enjoys a great∣er thickness than any Membrane; and by vertue of its Nervosity has an acute and quick sense.

Aristotle seems to allow it a Substance plainly fleshy; for (in the 29th Problem, & l. 2. de generat. Animal. c. 6.) he af∣firms the Cutis or Skin to be produced of the Flesh growing dry. In which sence also Columbus (l. de Spir. c. 5. & 8.) calls the Skin the Exiccation or drying up of the Flesh. With whom Galen, 3. Me∣thod, and Ferne•…•…ius l. 5. Pathog. c. 8.) seem to consent, saying, That the Skin is the dryer part of the Flesh that lyes underneath it. But seeing there is so great a difference between the Substance of the Skin, and the Flesh that lies un∣der it; and for that the Skin is almost e∣very where separated from the Flesh by the Fat that runs between, and the fleshy Pannicle, it is apparent that the Skin can be no part of the dry'd up Flesh. I say almost every where, for in the Forehead it sticks so fast to the Muscles under it, that it follows their Motion, and seems to be united to 'em, though in truth it be a part subsisting of it self, and not ge∣nerated by the Flesh of the Muscles, but only most closely fixed to it. Whence we must conclude that the Skin owes its Original to no other part; but that it was produced in the first forming the Parts no less immediately from the Seed, and obtained a Nature no less proper to it self, than any other of the Parts.

Lindanus affirms the Substance of it to be twofold; the outward Part, ner∣vous; the inward part fleshy. For he likens the Skin to the rind or peel of an Orange;

whose exterior yellow Substance is thin∣ner, harder, thicker, and more porous. The inner white part thicker, softer, loos∣er and more spungy: and so he believes the Skin to be. And Massa is of the same Opinion, who writes that the Skin consists of two little Skins, and that they may be divided by the edge of a Ra∣zor.

VII. In respect of the Substaace the* 1.49 Skin differs in thickness, fineness, thin∣ness, and hardness, according to the variety of Temperament, Age, Sex, Re∣gions, and Parts.

Here Spigelius proposes a Question,* 1.50 Whether the Skin be the Instrument of Feeling? Which Aristotle and Avicen seem to deny, but Galen and his Disci∣ples affirm to be true. For the Solution of the Question, this is briefly to be said: That the Membrane is properly the In∣strument of feeling; and hence the Skin, as it is a Membrane, may be said to feel. But because that other thicker Parts not feeling of themselves are intermixed with the Sensitive Particles, hence it comes to pass, that its feeling Faculty is in some measure moderated, that it might be neither too dull, nor too quick.

VIII. It is temperate in the first* 1.51 Qualities, and enjoys a moderate Sense of Feeling. For in regard it is subservi∣ent to the Sense of Feeling, to the end it may be able the sooner, and with less de∣triment, to feel External Injuries, before the Inward Parts receive any Dammage, it ought to have a mean temper between the tactible Qualities; by means of which it might be able to perceive all Ex∣tremities. And because the Constituti∣on of tactible Qualities is generally felt and examined by the Hands, therefore the innermost Skin of the Hands is most exactly temperate, and of a moderate sensibility, so it be not become brawny by laborious Exercise.

VIII. The Figure of it is plain and* 1.52 Flat; nor has it any other Properties peculiar to it self, but such as it bor∣rows from the Parts subjected to it; according to whose Shape it is either Level or Unequal, Prominent on Ex•…•…uberant, Contracted or Depres∣sed.

In many Parts it has various Lines and Wrinkles according to the variety of its Motions; from the Inspection of which in the Hand the Art of Chiromancy pro∣mises Wonders.

IX. It never moves of it self b•…•…t* 1.53 when it is mov'd, and then it is mov'd either by the Part which it invests, or by the Muscles annexed to it, as in the Forehead and hinder part of the Head.

X. It is nourished by the Blood in∣fused* 1.54 into it through innumerable lit∣tle Arteries. It has innumerable little▪ Veins, of which several discharge them∣selves into the Iugulars, the Axillars, or Armhole-Veins, the Epigastric's, Veins of the Loynes, and Saphaenae or Cru∣ral Veins. Innumerable other Veins al∣so return their Blood to the Heart in∣vincibly through some other greater Veins. It receives the Animal Spirits through the Nerves, of which the num∣berless small Branches, and little Fibers terminate in the Skin from the parts be∣neath it; and contribute to the quick∣ness of its Feeling.

XI. It is of a continuous or con∣nexed* 1.55 Substance, except only in those places where there is a necessary Per∣foration for the Entrance and Egress of things necessary, as the Mouth, the Nostrils, the Eyes, the Fundament, the Womb, the Pores, &c.

XII. In many places it is hairie,* 1.56 as upon the Head, the Share, the Chin, the Lips, the Armpits; more∣over, but especially in Men, upon the Breast, the Armes, Thighs, and Leggs.

But as for the Quantity, Colour, Length, Thickness, and fineness of Hair, there is a very great Variety according to the Temperament and Constitution of the Body.

XIII. The Colour of the Skin is* 1.57 various. 1. According to the diver∣sity of Regions. Hence some are deep Yellow, like the Scythians: Others bright Yellow, as the Persians, ac∣cording to Hippocrates. Others Black, as the Ethiopians, Brasilians, and Nigrites. Others between Yellow and Black, as many of the Indians. Others between a deep Yellow, Red, and Black, as the Mauritanians. Others White, as the Europeans. 2. According to the Variety of Temperaments and Humors therein contained. Hence the Flegma∣tick are Pale, the Choleric Yel∣low, the Melancholy Swarthy, and the Sanguine Fresh and Lively. 3. Ac∣cording to the Variety of the parts of the Body: For if it stick to the Flesh, as in the Cheeks, it is more ruddy, if too

much Fat, it looks pale; if to a dry and wrinkled part, brown and dull; if it lye over great Veins, it looks blue.

XIV. Whether Action or Use be to be* 1.58 attributed to the Skin is disputed. Galen will allow it no Action. li. de Caus. Morb. c. 6. And therefore affirms it to be form'd by Nature particularly for Use. On the other side Iulius Casser of Placentia l. de tact. org. sect. 2. c. 1. besides Use ascribes to it a certain pub∣lick Action, so far as it performs the Act of Touching or Feeling, and dis∣cerns and judges of Qualities. Aristo∣tle agrees with Galen; and many Argu∣ments uphold Casser, which he rehear∣ses and weighs in a long Discourse. l. Citat. à cap. 1. ad 9. And there also at the same time disputes of the Organ of Feeling, from Chap. the 10. to the 19. of the Book even now cited.

CHAP. IV. Of the Fat, the fleshy Pannicle and Membrane of the Mus∣cles.

I. FAT, is an unctuous or oylie* 1.59 Substance, condens'd by Cold to the thinnest Membrane lying upon the fleshy Pannicle, and closely joyn'd to it, produced out of an oylie and sulphureous part of the Blood, which b•…•…ing spread under the Skin, excludes no less the penetrating Injuries of Cold, than it hinders the immoderate Dissipa∣tion of the natural Heat, moistning the in∣ward Parts, and facilitating their Motion.

When I say it is condensed by Cold, then by Cold I mean a lesser Heat, not an absolute Frigidity void of all Heat. Which is explain'd at large by Andr. Laurentius▪ Anat. l. 6. c. 6. Where by many Reasons and Similitudes he clear∣ly demonstrates, how a lesser Heat may make a Condensation. Valesius also weighs and decides all the Arguments brought to and agen upon this Subject. Controvers. Med. & Philos. l. 1. c. 10.

II. The Matter of Fat is Blood: Hence it comes to pass that where* 1.60 Blood is wanting, there is never any Fat or Grease. And that not every sort of Blood, but such as is prefectly concocted, Oyly and Sulphureous, made by Concoction out of the most airie and best part of the Nourishment. Hence it comes to pass, that such Persons whose Blood is not Oyly (tho' plentiful) but hot, Melancholic, Choleric, ill Concoct∣ed, Serous, Salt, or which way soever sharp as in Scorbutics and Hypochondri∣acs, never become Fat. For that through the vehement and sharp Fermentation, occasioned by the acrimonious Particles, the oylie Sulphureous Particles in the Blood either are not generated in suffi∣cient Quantity; or being generated or consum'd, before they can be separated from the sanguine Mass, and grow to the Membranes. Hence it is manifest wherefore Children are tenderly plump, but never Fat, because their Blood is very Serous, and the more thick and oyly parts of it, are wasted in the Nou∣rishment and Growth. Therefore Ari∣stotle in his History of Animals l. 3. c. 13. writes, That all Creatures of riper Age sooner grow Fat than such as are young and tender, especially when they are arri∣ved at their full Growth of Length and Breadth, then they come to augment in Profundity.

III. The Primarie efficient Cause is moderate Heat (not too fierce, as* 1.61 that which dissipates overmuch, nor too little, which neither concocts well, nor dissolves the concurring Vapors) the secondary Cause is the Condensa∣tion of those Vapors raised by that Heat to the colder Membranes. Nor is it a Wonder that Condensation should be made, when those Vapors light upon the Membranes not absolutely cold (tho' they are said to be cold in respect of other Parts that are hotter) but mo∣derately hot as is before said. As we see melted Lead, when it is remov'd from the Fire condenses again tho' the place be very warm, however not so hot as the Fire.

Nevertheless those oyly sulphureous Vapors do not only light upon, neither are they always condensed upon the Su∣perficies of the Membranes, but if the Members are sufficiently Porous, they insinuate themselves into their Pores, and spread over the whole Membranes, where they embody together, and be∣come a part of 'em; and by that means the Fat is dispersed through those uni∣versal Membranes, as it is done in that Membrane which lyes next under the Skin. But if the Membranes are more firm and thicker, then the Fat ad∣heres only to their Superficies, as we find in the Intestines, the Heart and some other Parts that are fortify'd with a

firmer and more compacted Mem∣brane.

IV. The learned Malpighius (ex∣ercit.* 1.62 de Om. Ping. & Adip.) makes an Enquiry what that is, by means of which, the Oyly and Fat Particles are separated from the Sanguine Mass, seeing that Heat alone (which can raise indifferently any Vapors from the Blood, but not particularly separate the oyly Vapors from the rest) is not sufficient to do it. Whence he con∣jectures 〈◊〉〈◊〉 that Separation is made by the means of certain Kernels, appropri∣ated only to that Duty, and that by o∣thers the oy•…•…y Particles are infused into certain Channels or Passages, which he calls Ductus Adiposos, or Channels for the Fat, and through which they are spread up and down upon the Mem∣branes. In which place he brings seve∣ral Arguments to support this new Spe∣culation of his. Which new Discovery of so great a Man, is not to be despised, nor to be rashly rejected; but to be more seriously considered; in regard the following Reasons render it somewhat Doubtful. 1. Because the Kernels ne∣ver appear to sight, nor can be any where demonstrated. 2. Because the certain∣ty of the Passages of the Fat and their Cavity, is a thing as much to be dispu∣ted. 3. Because the Fat or oyly Matter is somewhat Viscous, and therefore not so lvable to be separated from the Blood by invisible Kernels; or to pass through the imaginary Cavities of invisible Chan∣nels, when the most subtle Animal Spirits which are liquid and not viscous at all, cannot pass through the invisible Pores of the Nerves, but that they are stopp'd by every slight Obstacle, more especially by the least quantity of viscous Humor, as we find in Palsies. 4. For that a fat Sweat breaths forth from the Bodies of many People, when it is a thing not to be believed, that these sort of Kernels are every where inwardly annexed to the Skin of the whole Bo∣dy.

V. Whence it is apparent, what is* 1.63 to be thought of the Temperament; that is to say, that Fat is moderately hot, tho' it condense in the Cold, and be less hot than Blood. Which Tem∣perament appears, 1. From the Mat∣ter of it, which is Blood concocted, airie and sulphu•…•…ie. 2. From the effi∣cient Cause, which is Heat. 3. From the Form, which is Ovliness. 4. From the End, which is to help the Concocti∣on of the Parts; and by its temperate Heat to defend against the external Cold. 5. For that it is easy to be set in a Flame. Of which Galen thus writes, l. 4. de usu part. c. 9. That Fat is hot, is known to the Sense it self, by those that use it in∣stead of Oyle. And this also more espe∣cially manifests it to be true, because it's easily set on a light Flame, as approach∣ing nearest the nature of Flame; for no∣thing cold is suddenly kindl'd.

VI. Picolominus has asserted that* 1.64 Fat grows to a proper Solid but most thin Membrane (as we have already affirm'd) for that in Living Creatures the oylie Vapors of the refin'd Blood, would breath out in great Quantitie through the Pores of the Skin, unless some thick and cold Membrane (which Malpigius calls the Adipous Mem∣brane) should restrain and curdle 'em together. But Riolanus in his Anthro∣pogr▪ believes there is no need of any particular Membrane for that work, in regard that Condensation may be well enough performed between the thick∣ness of the Skin, and the fleshy Mem∣brane (perhaps as it grows outwardly to the Intestines and Membranes of the Kidneys: Which he proves from hence, for that in fat Bodies, especially in Wo∣men, the fleshie Membrane lyes wrapt up in Fat, as it were in the middle of it. And the same thing is prov'd by others by this Experiment, that if Fat be mel∣ted at the Fire, there does not remain any Membrane proper to it but only the fleshie Membrane. Hence Riolanus be∣lieves that Fat is not to be taken for any peculiar Part, since it seems to con∣stitute but one only part with the fleshie Membrane. Yet the same Riolanus (in Enchirid. Anatom. l. 2. c. 7.) re∣claiming his former Opinion, attributes a peculiar Membrane to Fat. And this is that which we also believe. For if the Fat which lies under the Skin be pull'd off with the Fingers, you may easily perceive its more close and fast sticking by means of the Membrane; and tho the fleshie Membrane be sometimes o∣verspread with Fat, as sometimes it hap∣pens to the Intestines and other Mem∣branous Parts, this does not prove, but that the Fat it self, which is extended over the whole Body under the Skin, has its own proper Membrane.

VII. But here some will object, This Membrane then at the first forming of the Birth ought to have been form'd out of the Seed with the

rest of the solid Parts. But neither in Abortives, nor in Infants newly born, any Flesh is observ'd to lie un∣der the Skin, therefore there can be no such Membrane there as that to which the Fat is said to adhere.

I answer, That that Membrane in all new born Infants is most certainly form'd, but by reason of its extraordi∣nary close sticking to the fleshy Panni∣cle, it is not so easily to be discovered. I remember once that in a certain large and fleshy Infant, that was Still-born, I found something of a small peice of Fat, like a kind of Froth, sticking to the Membrane, and as a Rarity not usually to be seen so soon, I shew'd it to all the Lovers of Physick that were by. Pe∣ter Laurembergius also seems to agree with us in this particular; as he, who in his Anat. l. 1. c. 8 demonstrates, That the Fat (he should have said, rather, the Membrane to which the Fat will af∣terwards grow) is form'd in the Womb, and that there never was any Child born without Fat (that is, without the Membrane) surrounding the Body and the Caul.

VIII. As the Fat which incompasses* 1.65 the Body grows to its own Membrane, so the same thing happens in the Fat of other Parts. For whereever Fat is to be found, as in the Intervals of the Muscles, the Heart, the Kidneys and other parts, there are to be found many thin Membranes, like little Baggs or hollow Lappets, hanging at the Ends of the Vessels, which adhere to another thicker Membrane spread underneath as it were a Base and Foundation. In these the Fat or oyly Matters of the little Bagg being separated from the Blood are condensed and col∣lected; and so out of several little Baggs filled with oyly Matter, being mutual∣ly clapt together, at length are made huge Portions of Fat. Malpighius also, by the help of his Microscopes, has ob∣serv'd that the said little Sacks are va∣riously formed, some being flat, others oval, others of another Shape, and that they are knit together partly by the Membranes of which they are for∣med, partly by the little Net of the Vessels. Nevertheless it is to be obser∣ved, that these little membranous Baggs do not grow to all the thick Mem∣branes, which is the reason that Fat does not grow to all Membranes; as in the Lights, Bladder, the Meninges, or Membranes of the Brain, the Liver and Spleen, &c. in regard that no such membranous Baggs do grow or hang to the Membranes that cloath and invest 'em. Then, as for the Bones it may be questioned in some measure, whether their own Cavities do not supply the place of membranous Baggs, (which Cavities in the larger Bones are bigger, in the lesser Bones lesser and Spungy) or whether any membranous Baggs may be contained in those Cavities, in which the fat Marrow is collected. Which latter seems to be therefore so much the more probable, for that the Marrowy Fat seems to be in a manner interwoven with little Fibres and Membranes.

IX. Others there are who farther* 1.66 extend the foresaid Doubt concerning the Membrane of the Fat, and do not put the Question, whether the Fat en∣compassing the Body, either alone, or together with the Membrane to which it sticks, be a Part of the Body it Con∣stitutes; but whether it be any man∣ner of way to be reckoned among the Parts of the Body? They who main∣tain the Negative affirm, 1. That it is not a spermatic Part engendered out of the Seed. 2. That it is not endued with Life like the rest of the Parts, be∣cause it sometimes grows and sometimes wastes Insensibly. 3. For that in case of Hunger and Famine it turns into the Nourishment of the other Parts, where∣as one Part cannot nourish another. 4. Because it performs no Action. 5. Be∣cause it is not restrain'd within any pecu∣liar Circumscription. But because the Affirmative seems to me the more fit to be embraced as the truer, I answer, to the First; that the first and least Deli∣neaments of the spermatic Parts, are on∣ly engendered out of the Seed, which at the first are so thin, that they can hard∣ly be discern'd by the Eye, or else lye hid, as in the Teeth and several other Parts, which do not appear till long af∣ter, when enlarged and encreased by the Nourishment which is daily afforded 'em: And so also it is with Fat. To the Second, That as the Muscles through Diseases insensibly decay, and yet it cannot be said that they are not endued like the rest of the Vessels with Life, thus also the Increase or Decrease of the Fat is no Proof that the Fat is not also endued with Life like the rest of the Parts. To the Third, I answer, That it is not true, that the Fat turns to the Nourishment of the rest of the Parts in

case of Famine; but rather that is most certain, That the Fat is wasted also by long abstinence, like the other Parts, when depriv'd of its Nourishment. To the Fourth, I say, that Galen (l. 6. de placit. c. 8.) allows Action to Fat, by understanding Use, as he also in many other places confounds Action and Use, tho' in reality there be a great diffe∣rence between 'em. Besides that the Cu∣ticle, the spungy Bones of the Nostrils, the various Membranes, the Hair and other Parts, tho' they perform no Action, but only serve to several Uses, are therefore not excluded out of the number of the Parts; for which Rea∣son there is as little cause for the exclu∣sion of Fat from the same Number. To the Fifth, I affirm, That it is restrain'd within its own Circumscription, tho' not contracted to a Point, in like man∣ner as the Flesh, which has no Circum∣scription exactly determined; besides we know that the Figure makes nothing to the Essence of the Part.

X. The Colour of Fat in Men, as* 1.67 well as in brute Beasts, differs some∣thing according to Age. For in Youth it is of a yellowish, or rather rosie kind of Colour; in elderly Peo∣ple somewhat enclining to White; but in decrepit People altogether White. Tho' these Rules are not so general in a∣ny Age, but that there may be sometimes an Exception, and the Sport of Nature may be observ'd. Laurembergius attri∣butes this Diversity of Colours to the Qualities of the Blood: Not without reason. Others would rather deduce it from external Causes. But these will agree with Laurembergius, if we will al∣low the Qualities of the Blood to be changed by external Causes: And so the Blood may be said to be changed by the Variety of Causes.

XI. Fat is either internally thic∣kened in the internal Parts or ex∣ternal, spread next under the Skin, of which we chiefly speak in this place. This is circumfused over all the Body, except the Lips, upper part of the Ear, the Eye-brows, the Cods, and the Yard, to which it would be but a Burthen.

XII. It differs also in Quantity* 1.68 several Ways. 1. In respect of Age: For in florid Age, it is more plen∣tiful than in Childhood and Old-age. 2. In respect of Sex: For in Wo∣men it is more plentiful than in Men. 3. In respect of the Temperament, Region, and Time of the Year: For it less abounds in hot and dry than in cold and moist Tempers. 4. In respect of Motion and Rest: For sedentary and lazy People are more subject to be fat, than they who are given to Exercise, or constrained to hard Labor. 5. In respect of Dyet: For they that feed upon costly Dyet, and indulge their Appetites, and make use of Nourishment of plentiful and good Iuice, are more subject to be fat, than they that live sparingly. 6. In respect of the Parts themselves: For it is more plentiful in those Parts where it is of most use, as the Abdo∣men, Breasts, Buttocks; more spa∣ring in those Parts where it is of lit∣tle Use, as the Hands and Feet; but none at all where it is unprofita∣ble and burthensome. 7. In respect of Health: For healthy People are fuller than sickly and diseased.

XIII. Suet grows to the internal* 1.69 Parts, being the same with Pingue∣do or Fat in a large Sense. But to speak specifically, it differs from Fat, for that this is softer and more moist, easily melted, and being melted, does not so easily congeal. Whereas Suet is harder and dryer, is much longer in melting, and being melted, more difficultly hardens again. This is cer∣tain however, that several Physicians use the Word promiscuously, and call any oily Substance of any Creature Fat, Grease, or Suet, as they please themselves; which is also to be found in Galen: who is frequently carelesly neg∣lectful of making any Distinction or Property between these Words; and l. 2. Sympt. de pingued. thus writes; If thou wilt call every oily and fat Sub∣stance in Animals Grease; but Fat may be taken for the whole Genus of that sort of Substance.

XIV. The fleshy Pannicle, fleshy* 1.70 Membrane, and membranous Muscle, by the Greeks 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, is a strong Membrane full of fleshy Fibres, espe∣cially about the Forehead, Neck, hinder part of the Head, and Regi∣on of the Ears, spread over the whole Body, as well for Covering as De∣fence, endued with an exquisite Sence, so that being assail'd with sharp Ra∣pers,

it causes a quivering and sha∣king over the whole Body.

XV. This Pannicle in Man lyes* 1.71 next under the Fat, and extends it self to those parts that want Fat, as the Eye-lids, the Lips, the Cods and Yard. In most Brutes it is spread under the Skin, to which it sticks very close, and has the Fat lying under it. By the benefit of which, many Creatures have a Skin that is easily moveable, by means whereof they shake off Flies and other troublesome Insects, as we find in Cows, Harts, and Elephants.

XVI. It sticks most closely to the* 1.72 Back, and is there thickest, and there∣fore is vulgarly said to derive its Ori∣ginal from thence.

In the Neck, the Forehead, and the hairy part of the Head it can hardly be separated from the Muscles that ly under it, and it is so firmly knit to the broad Muscle, that it seems to compose it.

XVII. It is somewhat of a ruddy* 1.73 Colour in new-born Infants, in People of riper years it is somewhat white. Which Colour however varies somewhat according to the Fat, the Vessels and Fi∣bres annexed to it; so that it is some∣times more pale, and sometimes between both.

XVIII. The inner part is smear'd* 1.74 over with a slimy Humour, to make the Muscles slippery, and render their Mo∣tion more easie.

N. Zas in his little Dutch Treatise of the Dew of Animals, ascribes a most un∣heard of Use to this Membrane. For he affirms that it attracts to it self the serous Humours from all parts, and that it is the real Receptacle or common Seat of the Serum or Dew. Which serous Hu∣mour flows from thence into all the Spermatic parts, and washes away all their Impurities. That it is the Spring and Source of all our Sweat; and that in all Distempers of the Joynts, it poures forth an incredible quantity of gravelly water, vulgarly call'd Aqua Articularis, or Joynt-water, with many other fanta∣stical Dreams (as he was taught by his illiterate Master Lodowic de Bils) con∣cerning this Membrane, which he frivo∣lously indeavours to impose upon others; altogether ignorant that there is no at∣tractive virtue in this Membrane at all, nor any receptacle or place where such a manifest quantity of the serous Humour or Dew, much less any great quantity, sufficient to be sent to all the Spermatic Vessels, and to be emitted by Sweat; nei∣ther are there Pores sufficient to receive so great a quantity in so compact and thin a Membrane: Moreover, in the Dissections of Bodies, as well living as dead, that Membrane never is to be seen turgid or swelling with any serous or o∣ther dewy Humour, as he calls it.

XIX. The Membrane common to* 1.75 the Muscles, is a thin Membrane cloathing all and every one of the Mus∣cles, and separating them from them∣selves, and the adjacent parts.

Riolanus, animadvert. in Bauhin. finds fault with Bauhinus for reckoning this Part in the number of the common Con∣taining Parts; and yet in the mean time calls it a Membrane proper to the Mus∣cles. But Bauhinus's meaning may be easily interpreted for the best; That he reckon'd that Membrane among the com∣mon Containing Coverings, as it is pro∣per only to the Muscles, but common nevertheless to all the Muscles, that is to say such a one as infolds, covers, and contains such and such Muscles only, but in the mean time is common to all the Muscles.

CHAP. V. Of the Proper Containing Parts.

I. THe Containing Parts proper* 1.76 to the lower Belly, are the Bones, Muscles of the Abdomen, and Peritonaeum, or Membrane of the Paunch.

II. The Bones are few and large, that is, the Vertebers of the Loyns, the Os Sacrum, with the Crupper-bone adjoyn'd, the Huckle-bone, Hip-bone, and Share-bone; of which more l. 9. c. 12.

III. The Muscles of the Paunch or* 1.77 Abdomen are ten, (sometimes eight, seldom nine) distinguish'd by their pro∣per Membranes, and the running along or situation of the Fibres; on both sides equally opposite one to another.

IV. The first Pair, which is Exter∣nal,* 1.78 is fram'd by the Oblique descend∣ing Muscles, full of obliquely descend∣ing Fibres also.

These arise from the lower part of the sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth and

eleventh Ribs, before they end in Gri∣stles folded among the Spires of the greater Saw-shap'd Muscle, and the trans∣verse Processes of the Vertebers of the Loyns; sticking also to the side of the Hip-bone, and end with a broad Ten∣don in the middle of the Paunch at the Linea Alba. Which Tendon sticks so close to the Tendon of the next ascend∣ing Muscle, that it is almost inseparable from it, nor can be parted from it with∣out being torn and dilacerated. Now its membranous Tendon begins at the Linea Alba, which Spigelius calls the Similunar or Halfmoon Line. These Tendons in Men (which also happens to the two other lower Pairs, the Ascending and Transverse) are crossed on both sides by the Processes of the Peritonaeum, ex∣tending themselves to the Testicles; but in Women by the Vermiform Ligaments of the Womb; which Passage being o∣vermuch widen'd or broken, if the Call or Intestines fall upon the Groin or Cod, it is the cause of Burstenness.

They derive Nerves, Arteries and Veins from the Intercostal Branches at the upper part:

V. The Linea Alba is a whitish* 1.79 part running from the Cartilago Mu∣cronata through the middle of the Paunch and Navil, to the Os Pubis, or Share-bone.

It has the firm Substance of a Ten∣don, through the Concourse of the Ends of the Tendons of the Descending, As∣cending, Transverse, and Pyramidical Muscles of the Abdomen.

It is broader above the Navil, nar∣rower below it; and in Women with Child many times it appears of a blewish Colour; which Colour it has been known to keep till the third Month after Deli∣very.

Riolanus animad. in Bauhin. seems to believe it to be a peculiar Membrane running out from the Cartilago Mucro∣nata of the Breast, through the Navil, to the Commissure or joyning of the Share-bone, and receiving the Tendons of the Share-bone. In the same Ani∣mad. in Bauhin. he affirms the Linea Al∣ba to be imaginary; perhaps because that being blind through Age, he could no longer discern it.

VI. The second Pair is constituted* 1.80 by the Muscles obliquely Ascending, furnish'd with Ascending Fibres, which as they ascend, cross the Descending in form of a Letter X.

They arise from the Transverse Pro∣cesses of the Vertebers of the Loyns (from whence they receive the Nerves) and the Apophyses or going forth of the Os Sacrum, (but membranous both,) and the outward fleshy part of the Hip-bone▪ Hence the fleshy Ascending are joyn'd at the top to the Cartilages of the eighth, ninth, tenth and eleventh Ribs, and terminate in the Linea Alba with a broad nervous Tendon crossing the right Muscles; and are nourish'd by the little Branches of the Arteries growing from the musculous Artery near the Loyns, and casting forth Veins to the musculous Vein.

Some Anatomists vulgarly hold, that these Muscles with a double Tendon en∣fold the right Muscles. Which is not very probable. For above, the Tendons of the Ascending Muscles rest upon the right Muscles, and are so fast interwoven with their Tendony Intersections, that they can hardly be separated whole from 'em. But in the lower or inner part of the Muscles those Tendons cannot be discover'd, and therefore they are de∣servedly rejected by Vesalius, and Riola∣nus; and Lawrentius is justly blam'd by Riolanus, for taking notice of 'em in his Sculptures.

VII. The third Pair is that of the* 1.81 Musculi recti, so call'd because of the streight Course of the Fibres.

They are very strong, three or four fingers broad, and about a finger thick.

They arise fleshy from each side of the Cartilago Macronata, the Breast-bone, and the Cartilages of the Ribs, (where they receive three or four Nerves from the Intercostal parts) and so descending directly down; and being united almost near the Navil, and distinguish'd with two, three, sometimes four Impressions, as it were into several Muscles, end at length with a strong, thick Tendon in the Share-bones. Some Anatomists de∣scribe their beginning from the Share∣bones, and make 'em to end in the Car∣tilages of the Ribs. Others believe that they consist of several Muscles, and place their beginnings partly in the Car∣tilages of the Ribs, partly in the Share∣bones, and make 'em to end at their In∣tersections, and affirm the several parts contained between the Tendon-like In∣scriptions to be so many Muscles. To which Opinion, not improbable, Spige∣lius gives his consent, induc'd thereto by this Argument, Because they not only receive Nerves from the Intercostals a∣bove, but also below from the first Pair of the Loyns. For it is a perpetual Rule,

that every Muscle moves toward its be∣ginning. But where the Nerve is in∣serted, there, as Galen testifies, is the be∣ginning of the Muscle, (See the Reason l. 5. c. 1.) but here several Nerves are inserted into their Parts, not only above and below, but also those which are in∣terspac'd with separate Interfections; and therefore there are many beginnings of these Muscles; which in regard they cannot be many in one Muscle, therefore all the Musculi Recti do not consist of one, but of several Muscles. Moreover if we consider their primary use, which is strongly to press down the Belly for the Expulsion of Ordure and the Birth; which Compression and Expulsion does not require that either the Breast-bone should be drawn downward, or the Os Pubis upward; but that those Bones should remain in their places, and that all and every the parts of these Muscles should swell together; that so the upper parts of every one should draw upward some parts that are nearest to 'em at the first Intersections; the lower parts other parts which are nearest to 'em, down∣wards; and that the middle parts, lying between the Intersections, should draw to themselves the parts that are next 'em on both sides.

Which Contractions being made by distinct and several Parts to several parts, (which cannot be done in one Muscle) it follows that every single Musculus Rectus must consist not of one, but of several Muscles.

VIII. As they receive large Arte∣ries from the Epigastrics ascending, and the Mammillary Arteries descending, so they send forth a larger sort of Veins to the Epigastric and Mammil∣lary Veins.

IX. These Arteries and Veins at their Ends in the inner part, are vul∣garly said to joyn together about the middle by Anastomoses one into ano∣ther. So that the Ends of the Epiga∣stricks open into the Ends of the Mam∣millary Veins, whence many derive the Consent and Sympathy of the Dugs▪ with the Womb. But I have always obser∣ved these Anastomoses or Openings of one Vein into another, to be wanting; nor did I ever yet meet with any Body wherein these Ends were not distant one from another, the breadth either of a Thumb or a little Finger, so that I am certain the Cause of that Consent can by no means proceed from hence.

Thus Vesalius likwise, in Exam. Obs. Fallop. writes; that he has observed that those Vessels are never so united, that it may be said, there is any Communica∣tion between 'em. Bartholin also in dub. anat. de lact. Thorac. c. 1. writes that he sought for these Anastomoses in a sound young Woman, kill'd six weeks after her Delivery, but could find none: rather that the Branches ascending and descend∣ing were about a fingers breadth distant one from another: yet Riolanus defends those Anastomoses most stiffly, Anthropog. l. 2. c. 8. and asserts that he had shewn 'em to a hundred of his Scholars. But for all that, I do not give so much credit to his words, as I do to my own eyes. Perhaps old Riolanus might be dimm-sighted at that time, and so per∣haps might think he saw what was not to be seen. Of these Anastomoses see more l. 6. c. 3. & l. 7. c. 7.

X. The fourth pair resting in the* 1.82 lower Place upon the Musculi Recti, are the Pyramidal Muscles, so call'd from their figure which is Pyramidal; but from their use Succenturiati, be∣cause they are thought to assist the Mus∣culi Recti in their duty.

They arise small and fleshy from the Share-bones, where they also receive the Nerves. From this larger foundation they rise smaller and smaller, and scarce four fingers bread, ascending the Ends of the Musculi Recti, yet somewhat unequal in length, the left being both shorter and narrower, they thrust their sharp Tendon into the Linea Alba, and sometimes ex∣tend it to the Navel with a slender End.

Vesalius▪ Andern•…•…cus, and Columbus describe those Ends erroneously for the beginning of the Musc li Recti, seeing that the interceding Membrane, and al∣so the Separation which may be made without any prejudice to the Musculi Recti, also the Obliquity of the Fibres quite different from the strait Muscles, and lastly a peculiar way of thrusting themselves into the Linea Alba, clearly demonstrate that they are several and di∣stinct Muscles.

XI. Fallopius and Riolanus as∣cribe* 1.83 to these Muscles the Office or A∣ction of compressing the Bladder, and promoting the Excretion of Urine, or the Act of making Water.

Nevertheless sometimes' both these Muscles are wanting; sometimes the one, and sometimes the other, is lacking; but more frequently the Left than the Right, and then the broader and more fleshy End of the

Right supplies their place. We have several times shewn as well when they have been both to be seen, as when they have been defective, both in Publick and Private Exercises.

XII. The fifth Pair consists of the* 1.84 Transverse Muscles, fasten'd to the Peritonaeum underneath, and full of Transverse Fibres.

They begin from the Ligament rising from the Transverse Processes of the Vertebers of the Loyns, the Huckle-bone, and the Cartilaginous Neighbourhood of the six inferiour Ribs. And being furnish'd with Arteries, Veins and Nerves obliquely ascending, they end with a large Tendon in the Linea Alba. To these the Peritonaeum sticks so close, that it cannot be separated from 'em without Dilacerati•…•…n.

XIII. The common Opinion is, that* 1.85 all the foremention'd Muscles compress the lower Belly, and by that means promote the dispersing of the Nourish∣ment through the Vessels and Bowels, as also the expulsion of super abundant Ex∣crements, and the mature Birth, also that they assist the Breast in strong Re∣spiration, and Expectoration, or forci∣ble throwing off what is offensive to the Lungs, fasten the Contain'd Bow∣els, and defend 'em from External Injuries, and cherish 'em with their Heat. But I think this, that it is con∣venient to discourse somewhat more par∣ticularly of their Actions. For if ge∣nerally they all serve to compress the Belly; which are they that raise the Con∣taining Parts of this Belly? For their E∣levation and Depression is Alternate, and both are equally necessary to the pushing and squeezing forward of the Nourish∣ment and Humours through the Con∣tain'd Parts, which I admire no Person has hitherto taken notice of. And there∣fore there is a notable Distinction to be made of the Operations of these Mus∣cles.

XIV. In the first place the two ob∣lique Pair raise the Abdomen. For in regard they swell at their beginnings or fleshy Part, then the Tendons with the Linea Alba draw outward and raise upward; and that same swelling usual∣ly concurs with the swelling of the Dila∣ting Muscles of the Breast; and there∣fore in breathing, the Abdomen is also e∣levated together with the Breast▪ which every man may find in himself. Then again that Elevation may be made with∣out breathing, when the Animal Spirits, especially more copious, are determin'd to these Oblique Muscles, and very few flow into the dilating Muscles of the Breast. This Operation also, among o∣ther things, their Oblique Situation teaches us; (which is not so convenient for pressing forth;) as also their Origi∣nal, and the length of their Tendous. But the other three Pairs manifestly serve for Compression. For the Muscu∣li. Recti, with the Pyramidal, when they swell, cannot but very forcibly depress the Belly; and the transverse Muscles swelling, because they rise from the Loyns, cannot but very strongly con∣tract the Belly, by drawing the Linea Alba backward.

Spigelius l. 4. anat. c. 10. ascribes ano∣ther Use to the Muscles of the Abdomen, that is, to move the Trunk of the Body at the Sides Circularly and Obliquely, and to bend the Body forward. Of which two Offices, the one is to be as∣cribed to the Oblique, the other to the Streight Muscles.

Besides the foresaid Muscles, those Muscles seated in the Region of the Loyns and Ossa Sacra, may be reckon'd among the Muscles of the Inferiour Bel∣ly: But because that they are chiefly serviceable to the Action of other Parts, they are not muster'd in the Order of the Muscles of this Belly.

XV. The most inward Containing* 1.86 Part of the Abdomen is the Perito∣naeum, by the Arabians call'd Zip∣hach, because it is spread over all the Bowels of this Belly, and not only contains and restrains 'em, but clothes them with a Common Tunicle.

Vesalius and Bauhinus, following the Opinion of Galen, de •…•…su part. lib. 4. cap. 9. ascribe to it the Office of compressing the Intestines, and to the Exclusion of the Birth. But in regard that Action or Compression is Voluntary, it is neces∣sarily perform'd by the Muscles, the In∣struments of voluntary Motion, by which means the compress'd Peritonae•…•…m pushes forward, and so presses forth only by Accident.

XVI. It is a thin and soft Mem∣brane, interwoven with Spermatic Fi∣bres, smooth within-side, and as it were besmear'd over with Moisture, without fibrous and somewhat rough.

XVII. It is improperly said to de∣rive its Original from the first and se∣cond Vertebrae of the Loyns, because

the thickness of it is more in that place, and its Connexion firmer. I say improperly, because no one Sper∣matic Part derives it self from another, but all take their Original from the Seed. Fallopius is of Opinion that it has its beginning from the beginning of the Mesentery. Lindan, agreeing with Rio∣lanus, deduces its beginning from the Membrane outwardly infolding the Ves∣sels and the Bowels. But in regard this Membrane is rather to be taken from the Peritonaeum that spreads it self over all the lower Belly, the Peritoneum can never derive its beginning from that.

XVIII. Jacobus Sylvius observes it* 1.87 in men, to be thicker and stronger in the upper part of the Belly, in women to∣ward the lower part of the Belly. Which Bauhinus believes so order'd by Na∣ture in the one, as being more addicted to Gluttony; in the other, for the sake of the Womb, and the Birth to be there∣in conceived. But Spigelius affirms it to be thicker in both Sexes always in the lower part, and never in the upper. Which he believes was so ordain'd by Nature with great Prudence, as being the Part which is most obnoxious to Ruptures; in regard that whether we sit, walk, or stand, the Bowels always weigh downwards; and therefore that the Pe∣ritonaeum may be better enabled to sustain their weight, she thought it necessary to strengthen and fortifie that part.

XIX. It has very small Nerves that* 1.88 arise from the Vertebra's of the Breast and Loyns. Arteries and Veins that spring from the Diaphragmatic, Mam∣mary, and Epigastric Vessels.

XXI. It is bor'd thorough at the passage of the Gullet and Vessels above and below, and proceeding outward in the Birth, as also of the Vermiform Ligaments of the Womb. Moreover, its outward Membrane forms in men, two Oblong Processes, like more loose sort of Chanels descending toward the Scrotum, for the defence of the Testicles and Spermatic Vessels descending and turning again.

XXII. This Membrane is call'd Vaginalis, the Sheath-Membrane, be∣cause it comprehends the Stones as it were in a Sheath. But in Women, whose Stones are not pendulous without, it extends it self on both sides to the end of the Round Ligaments of the Womb; and proceeding forward, together with it, without the Abdomen, extends it self above the Share-bones to the Clitores. But its inner Membrane sticks fast, and grows to the Spermatic Vessels, or the foresaid Ligaments of the Womb, pas∣sing forward, and together with the Vagi∣nal Membrane, extending without the Cavity of the Abdomen. For that Mem∣brane being either dilated or broken in that place causes Bitterness; so that the Intestine and Caul in Men falls into the Scrotum; in Women down upon their Groyns. Which Rupture or Dilation of the Peritonaeum, if it happen in the Navel, is call'd Hernia Umbilicalis, or the Navel-Rupture.

CHAP. VI. Of the Parts Contain'd; and first of the Caul.

I. THE Parts Contain'd in the Abdomen, either perform the publick Concoctions; or serve for the distribution of the Nourishment and Blood; or expel the Exerements, or serve for Generation.

The Stomach, small Guts, Sweet∣bread, Liver, Spleen, and Caul (which is serviceable to them) perform the pub∣lick Duties of Concoction.

The Arteries, Veins, Milky and Lymphatic Vessels serve for the distri∣bution of the Nourishment and Blood.

The thick Intestine, the Gall-bladder, the Porus Biliarius, the Kidneys, and the Urinary Bladder, expell the Ex∣crements.

The Spermatic Vessels, the Stones, the Parastatae or crooked Vessels at the back of the Testicles; the Prostatae or Glandules under the Seminal Bladders, the Seminary Vessels, the Womans Pri∣vities, her Womb and Neck of the Womb contribute to Generation. But tho' in Men the Yard and Testicles are excluded out of the Abdomen, yet are they by Anatomists reckon'd among the Parts contain'd▪ because the Spermatic Vessels go forth toward the Testicles from the Internal Parts, and the diffe∣rent Vessels proceed from the Testicles toward the inner Vessels; and for that the Seed which is collected together in the inner Prostatae and Seminary Vessels, flows out of the Yard.

Of all which we are to treat in the fol∣lowing Chapters according to their order.

II. The Peritonaeum being open'd, presently appear the Navel Vessels. Of which in the 32. Chapter.

III. Those being remov'd, the Caul* 1.89 offers it self; in Latin Omentum, as it were Operimentum, because it covers the Bowels. The Greeks call it Epiploon, for that it does, as it were, swim over the Guts; sometime Garga∣mon, sometimes Sagena, that is, a Net, or little Net; for that by reason of the stragling Course of its Vessels, it resem∣bles a Fisher-man's Net: the Arabians call it Zirbus. It covers all the Sangui∣neous Parts; tho' it appears fatter over some, and more membranous over others.

IV. It is a thin and double Mem∣brane* 1.90 rumpled like a Purse, arising from the Peritonaeum that infolds the out∣side of the Stomach and Colon. Riolanus derives its Original from the Mesentery: Which Opinion differs not from the first, when the Mesentery has its Membranes from the Peritonaeum; of which it is a certain sort of Production.

V. It consists of a thin Membrane* 1.91 interwoven with several folds, and small thred-like Fibres, growing in the forepart to the bottom of the Sto∣mach and the Spleen, and sometime also to the round Lobb of the Liver, at the hinder part growing to the Co∣lon, and so folded like a Sack; as also of several Vessels, and a soft kind of Fat, which is chiefly spread about the Vessels, and is very plentiful in fat People.

VI. It has a world of Veins, which* 1.92 it transmits to those which run toward the Liver from the Stomach and Spleen, and so to the Vena Porta, or great Vein of the Abdomen. With which are intermix'd several Arteries from the Branches of the Ramus Coe∣liacus and Mesenterick Artery, and some few Nerves that proceed from the Plexures of the Intercostal Nerves of the sixth Pair.

VII. The Roots of the Blood-con∣veighing* 1.93 Vessels, meet one another here and there with an Anastomoses, leaving conspicuous Spaces between each other, which are also fill'd themselves with smaller Branches; springing side∣long from the larger Roots, by means of whose frequent Conjunction an ap∣parent Net is form'd, whose middle Spaces exhibit various Figures fram'd with wonderful Art and Workmanship. Many of these lesser Branches also run out into the Fat, and not only thrust themselves slightly into the outermost Lumps, but also penetrate farther in, and are fasten'd to the Lumps or little Globes of Fat: and sometimes they are hid with a small thin Membrane spread over 'em, so that they are imperceptible. Malpigius Exercit. de Oment. ping. & Adip. exactly describes the Structure of the Caul, in an Ox, a Sheep, a Hart, a Dog, and some other Animals.

VIII. Veslingius asserts, that se∣veral* 1.94 little Kernels, plain to be seen, sometimes more, sometimes fewer, are scattered up and down in the said Vessels. But Riolanus animad. in Vesling. & Barthol. affirms that he never ob∣served any such Kernels. But through Age he seems to have forgot a truer As∣sertion in Anthropogr. where he ac∣knowledges some few. And indeed they are very few, and those only under the lower and deeper Part, under the Py∣lorus, or right Orifice of the Ventricle, and the Spleen.

In like manner Wharton, in his Ade∣nographia makes mention of but very few. For c. 12. he writes, That he only found two little Kernels, but those always in the Caul. One bigger in the place where it joyns with the Pylorus; which he observ'd receiv'd some few milkie Vessels running from the bottom of the Stomach toward the length of the Caul (but he is in an Error, for there are not any milkie Veins that derive themselves from the bottom of the Stomach, but as far as I could find by three or four Obser∣vations, these Vessels do not seem to be milkie, and advancing to the Kernel, but rather Lymphatic, and proceeding out of the Kernel.) These Vessels, the same Author says that afterwards, viz. from the length of the Caul they run with an oblique Course toward the right Extremitie of the Sweetbread, which they partly seem to creep under, and partly glide by, tending toward the common Receptacle of the Chylus, into which they disburthen themselves. The other Kernel he asserts to be a little less, which he affirms to have found sometimes double, sometimes treble, sometimes consisting of more Bodies. But if many Kernels are found in any Body that was sickly, at his Death, he calls those Kernels Adventitious, because they are not to be found in healthy Bo∣dys.

IX. The learned Malpigius, be∣sides* 1.95 the aforesaid Vessels, observes o∣ther very thin and slender Bodies, ex∣tended like small Threads, among the Vessels that shoot sorth, which he calls Corpora adiposa, or fat Bodys: and he believes 'em to be certain pecu∣liar hollow Vessels, carrying the mate∣rials of Fat for the Generation of Fat, tho' it be impossible to observe their Original, by reason of their extream Slenderness. In the mean time he is of Opinion that these Materials of Fat are separated from the Blood by the means of certain invisible adipous Kernels, and are so sent to these Vessels, and thro' those conveighed into the Membranes, rhere to be coagulated into Fat. For as there are certain peculiar Kernels appointed for the separation of Acid, Salt, Bitter, Lympid, &c. Humors, from the Blood (for this shall be made out in the following Chapter) so he believes that there must be certain peculiar Kernels (which he calls A lipous) of necessity appointed of oily and fat Par∣ticles from the Blood; and that those oily Particles being separated, are to be carried through certain peculiar adipous Vessels, in the same manner as the Blood, the Animal Spirits, the Chylus, and lympid Humor, called Lympha, are carryed through peculiar Vessels; upon which he introduces many ingeni∣ous and probable Conjectures. But what it is that makes me question the Truth of these Kernels and Adipous Vessels, I have already set down in the fourth Chapter preceding; where I have made mention of these Kernels.

X. The Caul is seated about the* 1.96 Intestines, into whose Windings and Turnings it insinuates it self, and spreads a great part of its self be∣tween the Spleen and the Stomach.

XI. In many Persons it scarcely* 1.97 extends it self below the Region of the Navel, in some farther, reach∣ing even to the Bladder, and some∣times in fat Women compressing the Mouth of the Womb (to the bottom of which it rarely grows) it occasions Barrenness, as Hippocrates testifies: And in Men if it fall down through the torn Peritonaeum into the Scrotum, it causes that Rupture which is called E∣piploce, when the Caul falls into the outward Skin of the Cods. It appears in more Folds and Doubles toward the Spleen than in any other Parts. Some∣times in Women after Delivery; re∣maining all rumpled about the middle of the Belly, it occasions terrible and frequently returning Pains.

XII. For the most part, in Men* 1.98 grown up, it hardly exceeds the weight of half a Pound; and yet sometimes it has bin known to weigh several Pounds. Thus it is found to be won∣derfully encreased in some Diseases: And Wharton relates that in a Virgin that dy'd of a Cachexie, he saw a Caul that was fleshy, or rather Glandulous; about half a Thumb thick. Sometimes also in fat and tun belly'd People that are sound, it is covered over with a great quantity of Fat, which encreases its weight. Thus Vesalius l. 5. c. 4. saw a Caul, which being augmented to the weight of four or five Pounds, drew down the Stomach with its Ponderosity, and was the Occasion of the Parties Death by its weight.

XIII. By cherishing the Heat of the* 1.99 Stomach and Guts, it causes more successful and speedier Concoctions. It supports the splenick Branch, and other Vessels tending to the Stomach, Co∣lon, and Duodenum. Moreover it many times receives the Impurities and Dreggs of the Liver, as appears out of Hippocrates, l. 7. 55. also out of his 4. lib. de Morb. & lib. 1. de Morb. Mulier. As also from the Observations of Rio∣lanus, Rossetus, and other Physicians.

CHAP. VII. Of the Ventricle, Hunger, and the Chylus.

I. TAke off the Caul, and pre∣sently* 1.100 the Ventricle or Sto∣mach appears; as it were a little Bel∣ly, call'd by the Greeks 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, as also Gaster.

II. It is an organic Part of the* 1.101 lower Belly, seated in the Epigastri∣on, next under the Diaphragma, which receives the Nourishment ta∣ken, prepared by Mastication, and let down through the Gullet, and there concocts it; and dissolving the best part of the Nutritive Substance, con∣verts it into a Chylus or whitish kind of Substance, like to Cream.

III. It consists of a triple Mem∣brane;* 1.102 the outermost thick and com∣mon, springing from the Peritonaeum, the middle, fleshy, the innermost, full of Wrinkles, and covered over with a viscous Crustiness, to preserve it from the Injuries of Acid Iuices.

IV. In the middle and innermost* 1.103 Membrane, in the first place, there is to be seen great Variety of Fibres ex∣tended, some obliquely, some streight, and some Circular: For the strength∣ning of the Bowels, and more easy Retention and Expulsion.

V. The innermost Tunicle is vul∣garly* 1.104 said to be common to the Gullet and Oesophagus; whereas it is of a far different Nature and Structure, and in regard of its Temper and Com∣position, contains a most admirable fermenting Quality, which the Mem∣brane of the Mouth of the Stomach and Oesophagus is not indued withal; and hence it engenders and stores up within it self a peculiar Fermentative Humor; which being in a sound Con∣dition, the Concoctions of the Stomach are rightly perform'd, but being vitia∣ted by the Mixture of Choler, or any other depraved Humors, occasion a bad Concoction. And therefore it would be better to say that this Tunicle is not common with, but continuous to the Oesophagus and Mouth of the Stomach. For there is a great Difference between Continuitie and Communitie. For the one denotes only the inseparable Adhesion of the Substance alone; but the other sig∣nifys the Equality both of Faculties and Uses. For Example, the great Arterie, is continuous to the Heart, but not com∣mon, as not having such Qualities and Actions as the Heart has.

VI. The Temperament of the Sto∣mach* 1.105 is moderately Hot, not so hot as the Heart, Liver, and many other Parts. Which moderate Heat is aug∣mented and cherished by the Heat of the Parts that lie round about it: To the end the Concoction of the Chylus may be the better accomplished; which otherwise is greatly endammaged by the Excesses of these Parts either in Heat or Cold.

VII. In a Man there is but one* 1.106 Stomach: It being a rare thing to find two Stomachs in any Body: Of which I never read but three Observati∣ons; of which one concerning a Sto∣mach divided into two, is cited out of Ioselinus by Theod Schenkius, in Anat. The other is cited by the same Person out of the Observations of Salmuthus: And the Third is set down by Riolanus, Anthropogr. l. 2. c. 20. in these Words. Once I saw a double Stomach continu'd, but distinguished with a narrow Mouth in a Woman publickly dissected in the Year 1624. In this Woman the Stomach was oblong, narrow in the Middle, equalling the Gut Colon in Breadth and Largeness. Which being dissected, I found that nar∣row Part, being like the Pylorus, to end in another large Cavity, which afterwards terminated in a thicker Orifice, which was the real Pylorus, from whence, as an Ecphysis, the first Intestine took its begin∣ning. Beside these three Examples, I do not remember that ever I read any thing farther upon this Subject. But there are two Stomachs in Animals that chew the Cud, and many other Animals, that feed upon harder and raw Nourish∣ment; also in Birds that cast up their Meat out of their Stomachs to feed their Young ones. And then the First by the Latins was called Ingluvies, or the Crap: Which is more Membrany and Thinner, the other more Thick and Fleshy. And in the First the Matter seems to be prepared for concocting, the Second to be perfectly Concocted. It is said that in some Creatures three Sto∣machs have bin found; and Riolanus testifys, that four have bin found in those Creatures, which chewing the Cud have Teeth only in one Jaw.

VIII. The Shape of the Stomach is* 1.107 Oblong, Gibbous toward the right Part, and slenderer toward the Right.

IX. It rests upon the Back-Bone* 1.108 near the first Verteber of the Loyns, and with the left Part, which is rounder and bigger, giving way to the Liver, it hangs forward toward the left Side: The left Side being the slenderer, and covered with the left Lobe of the Liver, and supported by the Sweetbread, is joyned to the Du∣odenum, or first of the small Guts.

X. The Bigness varies according to* 1.109 the Diversity of Ages and bigness of Bodys; to the Proportion of which it ought to answer; tho' that be no certain and perpetual Rule. For I have dissected several tall Men, who have had very small Stomachs, and se∣veral Men of a short Stature, that have

had large Ventricles. Gluttons, Vora∣cious, or Greedy People, have general∣ly large Stomachs. Such was that, which Schenkius anat. l. 1. Sect. 2. c. 14. affirms that he saw in a great Glutton that held ten Quarts of Wine. That was also a large one, mentioned by Spigelius Anat. l. 8. c. 8. that contain'd fourteen Pints of Liquor: Which was found in a Man that had a large Mouth. Whence Bau∣hinus Anat. l. 1. c. 46. believes that a Man may judge of the bigness of the Stomach from the largeness of the Mouth: And that such as have a wide Mouth▪ have a large Stomach, and are Voracious: Which is also the Opinion of Spigelius. But neither is that Rule without Exception: For I remember that Falcoburgi•…•…s, a certain famous Ana∣tomist of Leiden, cut up before us, in the publick Theater, the Body of a very tall strong Man, who in his Life time had bin a stout drinker, and a great Eater, and always Healthy until he came to be hanged against his Will, in whom we saw so small a Stomach, that it hardly amounted to half the bigness of an ordinary Mans Stomach: But trebly exceeded other Ventricles in thickness.

XI. It is distinguished into the* 1.110 Bottom or Cavity (the one the lower or greatest Part, inclining to the left Side, with its chiefest and largest Part, where the first Concoction is finished) and two Orifices, the Right and Left.

XII. The left Orifice, commonly* 1.111 called the upper Orifice, is that which is properly the Stomach, and Conti∣nuous to the Gullet and Diaphrag∣ma, about the eleventh Verteber of the Breast, over against the Cartilago Mucronata, admits the swallowed Nourishment. This, exceeding the o∣ther in Bigness, thickness, and Large∣ness, is interwoven with many orbicular Fibres, somewhat fleshy (which cause its more firm Contraction, and in the various Postures of the Body lying down, hinders the Nourishment from falling back into the Mouth) and Nerves from the sixth Pair; and in that is the natural Heat of the Appe∣tite, according to the vulgar Opinion: Not that the Act of Desiring is there performed, which is only in the Brain, but that through the Intervals there is such a Cause in it, the Trouble of which being perceiv'd in the Brain, stirs up such an Act of Desiring.

XIII. The other Orisice, which is* 1.112 the Lower, properly called Pylorus, or the Door-keeper, is narrower than the other, somewhat bow'd toward the Back Bone, on the left Side, full of Fibres thwarting one another, having a thicker Circle, and shap'd like an Orbicular Muscle (by means of which it detains the Nourishment for some time, lest it should slip away too soon, and undigested) and continuous to the Duodenum Gut, send the concocted Nourishment to the Bowels. Which Nourishment does not pass by a steep Fall, as lying equally high with the Stomach, but ascends before Expul∣sion.

XIV. The Ventricle receives Nerves,* 1.113 Arteries, and Veins.

XV. It receives Nerves from the* 1.114 sixth Pair. For that both the Trunks of the wandering Pair, be∣low the Ramus pneumonicus, de∣scending along the Sides of the Oe∣sophagus, is divided into two Bran∣ches, the External and Internal. Of these, the External by and by joyn together again, and embody into one Nerve, and spreads it self over the up∣per part of the Ventricle with many Shoots. The Internal also running to∣gether, make one Nerve, which de∣scending along the Oesophagus, and the external part of the Stomach, encom∣pass the bottom of the Ventricle, and sends into it a great number of Fibres. Through these Nerves the Animal Spi∣rits flow in great Quantity into the Ven∣tricle, contributing to it a quick Sense of Feeling: Which because of the lar∣ger Quantity of Nerves dispersed into the Stomach, becomes more sensible in the upper Part than the lower, which is thought to be the cause of Hunger. Through these Nerves of the wandering Pair is infused into the Fibres of the Ventricle, a natural Power of Contract∣ing themselves, in all Expulsions, of what ever is contained in the Ventricle: And by means of them also is that great Consent between the Ventricle and the Brain.

XVI. It receives its Arteries from* 1.115 the Coeliac Arterie, which serve to carry the Alimentary Blood with which it is nourished.

XVII. It is sprinkl'd with several* 1.116 Branches of small Veins sculking a∣mong its Tunicles, many of which

meeting here and there, and closing to∣gether, they form at length four more remarkable Veins, which run to the Porta Vein, that is the 1. Gastrick, which is bigger than the rest, 2. and 3. the right and left Gastroëpiploid, 4. and the Pyloric Branch: Also another Vein,* 1.117 called the Vas breve, or Vas Venosum (which issues forth from the Ventricle sometimes with one, sometimes with two, sometimes three, and sometimes more Branches, to be inserted into the Spleen Branch. By these the remainder of the Blood, which is left after the Nourishment of the Stomach is con∣veighed to the Liver.

XVIII. Formerly Physicians asser∣ted* 1.118 that there was a certain acid Iuice or Blood, which ascended into the Ventricle through the Vas breve, for the Nourishment of it, as also to create an Appetite, and stir up Hun∣ger in the Ventricle. But the very Sight it self demonstrates the False∣hood of this Doctrine in the Dissecti∣ons of living Animals, in which it is apparent that there is nothing flows from the Spleen to the Ventricle; but that the Blood continually flows from the Ventricle to the splenic Branch: For upon tying the Vas breve, there will presently appear a Swelling between the Ventricle and the Ligature; but a shrinking of the Vessels between the Li∣gature and the splenetic Branch. Which is a certain Sign that the Blood flows as we have said; and that it hardly reach∣es the Spleen (for the Entrance of the Vas breve into the splenetic Vein, for the most part, is somwhat distant from the Spleen) nor does it enter into the Spleen, but is poured forth into the splenetic Branch, and flows from thence directly to the Porta. More of this Matter may be seen in the following 16. Chapter.

XIX. Here we are to note by the* 1.119 way, that some learned Men are very trivial in their Exposition of the 54. Aphorism of Hippocrates l. 7. where he says, They who have any Flegm included between the Ventricle and Diaphragma, are troubled with Pain, because the Flegm has no Passage to either Belly, &c. Induc'd by these Words, they assert, That between the lest Sde of the Ventricle and the Dia∣phragma, there is a large Triangular Cavitie, fenc'd about with Membranes proceeding as well from the Ventricle, as from the Diaphragma and Caul, which nevertheless is a gross Mistake: For that there are no Membranes sent from those Parts that meet in that place, neither is there any such Cavity form'd there. In∣deed sometimes a Portion of the Caul insinuates it self between the Diaphrag∣ma and the hinder part of the Ventricle, so that sometimes it counterfeits the swel∣ling of the Spleen. And this is that without all doubt, which has deceived the Patrons of the said Opinion, not be∣ing well versed in Anatomie.

XX. The Ventricle, tho' it be not a* 1.120 principal Part, yet is it an assistant and serviceable Part; To which we are c•…•…iefly beholding for the Preparati∣on of the Nourishment (whence Quin∣tus Serenus, a Sammic Poet, calls it the King of the Body.

They on Truths Royal Basis seem to stand, Who give the Stomach the Supreme Command: If it be Strong, it gives Strength, Vi∣gor too, To other Parts: If weak, their Over∣throw.

And therefore all Diseases that assault* 1.121 it are to be accounted very dangerous; and the Wounds which it receives are by Hippocrates, 6. Aphor. 17. deservedly accounted Mortal; because the mem∣branous Vessels are hard to be cur'd in that part: and if they happen about the Stomach, by reason of the great num∣ber of Nerves intermingled in those pla∣ces, they kill the Patient with continual Convulsions and Hichups: but if they light upon the lower part, the swallow'd Nourishment presently falls through the Holes into the Cavity of the Abdomen, where in a short time they rot the other Bowels with their Corruption and Pu∣trefaction. However tho' Use and Rea∣son confirms that saying of Hippocrates, yet this Rule sometimes, tho' not fre∣quently, admits an Exception; for it has been known that some Wounds of the Ventricle have been cur'd. And of such Cures we find Examples set down by Fallopius de cap. Vuln. c. 12. Cornax in Epist. Iulius Alexandrinus Annot. ad l. 6. c. 4. Therapeut. Galen. Schenkius also collects other Stories from others, Obser∣vat.* 1.122 l. 3. Such a Cure I observ'd in the Month of December 1641. in a Country •…•…ad, who in upper Holland was wound∣ed with the Stab of a Penknife in the right side of the Ventricle; the wound being of an indifferent size, so that for eight days together we saw all his Meat

and Drink came out again at the Orifice, especially if you did but press the lower part of the Ventricle with your hand: Which Efflux of his Nourishment stop∣ped for seven days, but then return'd a∣gain for three days, and no more; nor did the Nourishment discharge it self so much as it did before. Afterwards be∣ing ordered to lye upon his right side day and night, nothing more flow'd out; so that no other Disease happening, and the Surgeon following his Cure, the Pa∣tient, beyond mine and the Expectation of all Men, within six or seven weeks was perfectly cur'd. Nor did he after∣wards feel the effect of any detriment which the wound had left behind, nor any hurt done to his Stomach. But,

More miraculous are those Accidents concerning two Knife-swallowers, of which the first is related by Bernard. Sue∣v•…•…s, Tract. de Inspect. Vulner. Crollius in Praefat. Basilic. Sennertus Prax. lib. 1. part. 1. Sect. 1. c. 15. and several others, of a Bohemian Country-man, who in the Year 1602. at Prague, swallowed a Knife nine Inches long; which Knife, after it had lain seven weeks, was at length cut out of his Stomach, and the Patient perfectly cur'd.

The other Accident George Lothus and Roger Hempsing relate, as seen by themselves, in a particular part of Ger∣many, of a young Man of two and twenty years of Age, who at Regiomont in Prussia, in the Month of May 1635. swallowed a Knife by chance, the breadth of two hands in length, the smooth Haft slipping down unawares. Which Knife was cut out of his Stomach six weeks after, and the Patient perfectly cur'd in a Month. This Knife was af∣terwards given by Daniel Becker, a Phy∣sician of Dantzick, to Otho Heurnius then Professor of Physic and Anatomy at Ley∣den, where it is still preserved among other Rarities in the Anatomy-Thea∣tre.

XXI. That Stones do grow in the* 1.123 Kidneys and Bladder, is a thing fre∣quently known, and sadly experienced; and that Stones have been also found in the Liver, Lungs, and several o∣ther parts, is that which the Observa∣tions of Physicians testifie: but that they should breed in the Stomach, is a thing hardly ever heard of; and yet Bauschius gives us four Examples of it. Ephemerid. Med. Phys. Tom. 2. Observ. 181. The first out of Iames Dobie Zen•…•…ki, who reports, That a certain Woman, after long Pains in her Stomach, vomited up two Stones about the bigness each of an Almond, and was presently freed from her Gripes. The second out of Laurentius Scholtzius, who writes, That a certain Person, long tormented with cruel pain in his Sto∣mach, at length vomited up a very large, oblong, and hard Stone, upon which his pain ceased. The third out of the same Author, of a Woman who at forty years of Age was troubled with a Pain and Swelling of her Stomach, want of Appetite, and continual Reaching; In whose Stomach, after she was dead, were found as many Stones as a man could well hold in the hollow of his hand, which being long kept, moul∣der'd away, and crumbl'd into a kind of yellow Salt: He adds a fourth Exam∣ple of Count George of Oppendorf, in whose Stomach were also found several little Stones.

XXII. The Action of the Stomach* 1.124 is to make the Chylus, that is, to ex∣tract a Milkie Iuice by peculiar Con∣coction out of the several Nourish∣ments, which is call'd the Chyle.

XXIII. The Chyle is a Milkie* 1.125 Iuice like the Cream of a Ptisan, pre∣par'd and concocted out of the Nou∣rishment received into the Sto∣mach.

XXIV. The Nourishment or Food* 1.126 is concocted in the Stomach by way of Fermentation; by which means they dissolve, and so the Iuice is extracted out of 'em.

XXV. Fermentation is twofold.* 1.127 One whereby the Particles of the Mix∣ture are stirr'd about of themselves, grow warm, and are rarify'd; and by dissolving the Salt which binds 'em together, they are so separated, that they become more full of Spirits: and are then for the greatest part mixed together again, and tho' more full of Spirits, yet remain mix'd. The o∣ther, which is by many call'd Effer∣vescency, is that by which the Acid Particles of the Salt, for the greatest part, boyling together with some Wa∣try and Tartarous Matter, are con∣center'd by Coagulation, and so are separated from other Particles of the Mixture, that they never return to an exact Union and Mixture with 'em again.

XXVI. After the first Manner Fermentation causes Chylification: tho' in our following Discourses, when we design to express a vehement Fer∣mentation, we shall make use of the word Effervescency.

XXVII. This Fermentation is made* 1.128 when the Salt parts of the swallow'd Food, are by the heat of the Stomach, and the acid Iuice, dissolv'd, melted, and become full of Spirits, and withal corrode and move about the Sulphu∣rous Particles, and so after a kind of Combat forsaking the strict Chains of their Mixture, are expanded and sha∣ken somewhat sowre and sharper as they are, through the thicker Mass, together with the sulphury spiritous Particles jogg'd together in like manner, and be∣cause of their passage deny'd, and mix∣ture of the thicker Matter not yet fully dissolv'd, being driven back again, they assail that Mass with motion upon mo∣tion, and divide and expand the smallest Particles of it one from another, and dispose 'em to a more easie separation, and to receive the form of another Pap∣like and Milkie Mixture. But as for what Particles cannot be sufficiently dis∣solv'd by this Fermentation, or reduc'd to a Milkie Substance, they become Ex∣crement, whose separation from the Milkie Juice is wrought in the Guts.

XXVIII. This fermentative Conco∣ction* 1.129 (which is finish'd without any vehement Motion upward or down∣ward, or any tumultuous Agitation through the Cavity of the Ventricle, as happens in Water boyling over the Fire) is so violent, that by the force of it the hardest Meats, which can hardly be mollified with a whole days boyling over a Kitchin-fire, in a few hours are not only soften'd, but so dissolv'd and melted, that the Particles being forc'd from their friendly Union, and torn one from another, and mix'd with the Liquor either inherent or in∣fus'd into the Stomach, they are turn'd into a Pap-like Consistency, not unlike to the Cream of a Ptisan.

XXIX. Now that the Food is ra∣ther* 1.130 turn'd into Chyle, than into Choler, Blood, or any other Humour, that is to be attributed to the peculiar Quality of the Substance of the Ventri∣cle, or to the Specific Temper and pe∣culiar Structure, and consequently to the Specific Ferment and manner of Fermentation; as the peculiar Quality of the Liver and Spleen produces ano∣ther Ferment, and as Blood is made in the Heart. However it is not done by the fermentative Particles alive, which are mix'd with the swallow'd Food, nor by a moderate Heat, as some are of O∣pinion. For they only conduce to the dissolution of the Nourishment, but the moderate Heat to promote the said Con∣coction or Fermentation, and excite the absconding Power to Action. But why that Concoction and Dissolution pro∣duces the Chylus, rather than any other Humour, that is to be attributed to the peculiar Quality of the Substance, there is no other Reason to be given for that, but only the peculiar Quality of the Substance, in respect of which, the Heat operates otherwise in the Stomach, than in the Heart or any other part; and there disposes of the Ferment after ano∣ther manner than in any other Bowel. Thus as the Kitchin-fire mollifies one way by Boyling, another way by Roast∣ing, another way, that which is Fry'd in Butter, or otherwise, that which is pre∣par'd in Vinegar or Pickle, and that by reason of the Substances by which, and upon which that soft'ning is to be brought to pass: Thus the Heat of our Body, by reason of the proper dispositi∣on of the Ventricle, and the Juices there∣in contain'd and bred, therefore other∣wise soften and dissolve the Nourishment in the Stomach than the other parts, and disposes the Ferment after another manner, to inable that Ferment to dis∣solve and concoct the swallow'd Nou∣rishment, in a distinct manner from the Reconcoction in other parts of the Nou∣rishment already melted and dissolv'd for second Concoction. So that by reason of this peculiar Quality, while the Stomach is sane, and acts accord∣ing to Nature, there can be no other Juice there made than a white Chyle.

XXX. Paracelsus writes that Ar∣chaeus with his Mechanic Spirits could perfect Chylification in the Stomach: but by Archaeus he means the innate Heat. To this Opinion Riolanus seems to adhere in Not. ad Epist. Wallaei. Ne∣vertheless he admits something of a sha∣dow of a peculiar Quality, in these words: I attribute the Cause to the diversity of the innate Heat, in the manner of the Substance, that is, saith he, the pro∣perty of the innate Heat. Not that the innate Heat differs of it self in

Substance. But when it cannot subsist without a Body or Substance without it self, it must operate variously accord∣ing to the diversity of that Substance in the several parts.

XXXI. Hence it is apparent, how frivolous that is which some assert, That the Ventricle does not make the Chyle, but is only an Instrument and Receptacle where the Chyle is made; and that it no otherwise makes the Chyle than the Pot wherein the Meat is boyl'd makes the Broth. But I would fain know who is so blind as not to see, that when Chylification is attribu∣ted to the Stomach, we do not mean the bare Membranes of the Ventricle, but a live and sound Ventricle that is furnish'd with its own Spirit and Heat, and a Con∣venient proper Ferment generated out of the peculiar Quality of its own Substance, with none of which things a Porridge Pot can be said to be endued.

XXXII. The Colour of the Chyle* 1.131 is Milkie and somewhat white, by reason of the sulphury Particles, dis∣solv'd with the salt ones, and mix'd with the acid Ferment of the Stomach. For every Liquor impregnated with Sulphur and a Volatile Salt, or a Salt admirably well dissolv'd, presently turns to a kind of Milk, if any thing of acid Moisture be pour'd upon it. Which is prov'd sufficiently by the preparations of Sulphur, and the Extracts of Vegetable Rosins. Also Spirit of Hartshorn or Soot, being sprinkled with any liquid Juice, or only fair Water, presently turns to a kind of Milk.

XXXIII. Plempius and Walaeus* 1.132 are of Opinion that the Chylus is not always white; but that from red Nou∣rishment it becomes red, from green, green. But herein they mistake; for were it not white of it self, it never would be found always white in the Milky Ves∣sels of the Mesentery and Breast; but we should also meet with red, green, or any other Colour, which was never yet observ'd by any Person. True it is, that frequently it appears sometimes more, sometimes less serous and thin, in the pectoral Chanel of the Chylus, according as there is more or less of the Lymphatic Juice, which flows in great quantity from all parts into the Chyle∣bearing Bag; which Limpid Juice, when there is no Chyle, continually and lei∣surely flows alone through that Chanel; nevertheless the Chyle that appears in those Milky ways, is never seen to be of any other Colour than white.

XXXIV. Therefore tho' the whi∣tish Colour of it may be something darken'd in the Ventricle and Intestins by many other thick Particles of the Nourishment tinctur'd with green, red, or any other Colour, and inter∣mix'd with it, in such a manner that the Mixture cannot be discern'd, it does not thence follow, that the Chy∣lus of it self has any other Colour than white. For tho' in green Herbs the white, or rather pellucid Colour of the spirituous and watery Parts be not appa∣rent to the sight, it follows not from thence, that the spiritous and watry part of those Herbs is of a green Co∣lour; for if the separation be made by distillation, it presently appears pellucid. And so it is with the Chylus, for being separated from the Mass which is tin∣ctur'd with any more cloudy Colour, mix'd with the acid Ferment of the Pancr•…•…as or Sweetbread, it never appears of an•…•… other Colour than white.

XXXV. But because Chylification cannot go forward unless the Nou∣rishment be swallowed into the Sto∣mach, it will not be amiss, before we prosecute any farther the History of Chylification, first to inquire into the cause of Hunger, that so we may more easily attain to the more perfect know∣ledge of Chylification.

XXXVI. What Hunger is there is* 1.133 no man but can readily give an ac∣count, that is to say, a desire of Food.

But what it is that provokes that de∣sire, and is the occasion of it, has been variously disputed among the Philoso∣phers.

XXXVII. Anciently they held that* 1.134 it proceeded from the attraction or sucking of the emptied Parts; and that the first emptied Parts suck'd it from the Veins, the Veins from the Liver, the Liver from the Stomach en∣du'd with a peculiar sucking Quality; which act of sucking they thought occa∣sioned that trouble which we call Hun∣ger. But this Opinion is now adays utterly exploded. First, for that ac∣cording to this Opinion plethoric Persons would never be hungry: Secondly, be∣cause there can be no such att•…•…action by the emptied Parts through the Veins

from the Liver, by reason of the little Lappets or Folding-doors that hinder it.

XXXVIII. Others observing that* 1.135 acid things create Hunger, believ'd it to be occasion'd by the acid Iuices, carried from the Spleen through the Vas breve to the Ventricle. But this Opinion Modern Anatomy more curious has utterly destroy'd, demonstrating in living Animals, that the Blood descends through that Vessel from the Stomach toward the Spleen, and so empties it self into the Splenic Branch, but that nothing flows a contrary Course from the Spleen to the Stomach.

XXXIX. Many there are, of which* 1.136 number Regius, who affirms that Hunger is occasion'd by the biting of the emptied Ventricle, by certain sharp and hot Iuices, continually forc'd through the Arteries into the Ventricle or its Tunicles, which after the Expul∣sion of the Chylus, not knowing what to gnaw upon, prick the Ventricle, whereby the Nerve of the sixth Pair, being mov'd within it after a certain manner, excites an Imagination of taking Nourishment for the relief of that pricking. But this Opinion is from hence confuted, for that the Blood of the Arteries, by reason of the Domini∣on of the Sulphury Particles, is by no means sowre, but smooth, soft and sweet; so that it neither does, nor can cause any troublesome pricking or corrosion, neither in the Tunicles of the Ventricle, nor of any other Parts, tho' of most exquisite Sense (as the Adnate or Conjunctive Tunicle of the Eye, the Nut of the Yard, &c.) Besides, it would hence fol∣low, That by how much the more of this Arterious Blood is thrust forward to the emptied Stomach, so much the more hungry a man would be: but the Contrary is apparent in burn∣ing Fevers, that such as in health have fasted two days together, are no more a hungry, whereas their Stomach is clearly emptied, and the Blood con∣tinually flowing through the Arteries into the Stomach. Then if Hunger should be provok'd by that Corrosion, why does not that hungry Corrosion happen in such People?

We were about forty of us one time* 1.137 travelling together, in our Return out of France, at what time being becalm'd at Sea, so that there was a necessity for us to tarry longer than we expected, all our Provision, Water and other Drink being near spent, so that at length we were constrain'd to fast the third day, not having a crumb of Bread nor a draught of Drink to help our selves: but after we had fasted half a day, or a little more, there was not one that perceiv'd himself a hungry; so that the third day was no other way troublesome to us, but that it weak'ned us, and made us faint: Neither did the Arterious. Blood occasion any hungry Corrosion in our empty Stomachs. And thus not only Reason, but also Experience, utterly overthrows the a∣foresaid Opinion. And therefore Ludo∣vicus de la Forge vainly invents a way for this Arterious fermentative Liquor from the Arteries to the Stomach, in Annot. ad Cartesii lib. de Hom▪ where, saith he, It may be here question'd, why that Liquor (i. e. the Fermentative) is carried through the Arteries to the Sto∣mach and Ventricle, rather than to other Parts. To which I answer, That the Arteries conveigh it equally to all Parts, but the Pores of all the Membranes are not so convenient to give it passage, as the Pores of the Ventricle. Now that this feign'd Subterfuge is of no moment, ap∣pears from hence, That in the Mem∣brances of the Brain, and many others, whose Pores are so convenient, that the Blood may be able to flow in greater quantity through them, than is convey'd to the Stomach; yet there is neither any Corrosion or Vellication of the Part. Some, that they may de∣fend this Corrosion the better, say That the Blood which is conveighed, or flows to the Stomach, is sharper than that which is conveighed to any other Part. But this no way coheres with Truth, because all the Blood is one and the same which is sent out of the Heart to all the Parts of the whole Body; nor is there any thing to sepa∣rate the sharp from the milder Particles, or thrusts 'em forward to these, rather than to those Parts.

XL. Others lastly, to whose Opini∣on* 1.138 we think fit to subscribe, assert that Hunger is occasioned by certain acid fermentative Particles, bred out of the Spittle swallowed down, and some others somewhat Salt or indi∣gested Acids, adhering to the Tuni∣cles of the Ventricle, and by that drawn to some kind of Acidity; or remain∣ing in it after the Expulsion of the Chylus, stitching to the inner

wrinkl'd Membrane (especially about the upper Orifice) and a Vellication, trouble∣some to the Stomach, which being communicated by the Nerves of the sixth Pair to the Brain, thereby an Imagination of Eating is excited, to appease the troublesom Corrosion.

XLI. This Acrimonie is infused into those fermentative Particles by the Stomach, when the sulphurous Parts are jumbl'd in the Iuices that stick to the inner Tunicle, and the Salts are melted by the convenient Heat of the Ventricle to a degree of Fusion, and so they turn Acid after a Specific Man∣ner. To which purpose the swallowed Spittle descending to the Stomach may be very prevalent (for this hath a fer∣mentative Quality in it self, as we shall shew ye l. 3. c. 24.) and to the same effect may also conduce the subacid Pancreatic, or Sweetbread Juice being infused into the Duodenum, if any Part of it shall rise toward the Stomach, or shall transmit any acid Vapors or Exha∣lations from the Intestin to it.

XLII. Here some Object, and say,* 1.139 if this be the Cause of Hunger, then when the Stomach is full, and Con∣coction and Fermentation are both busily employ'd, Men would be most Hungry; for then many more acid and fermentaceous Particles are called forth to their Work, which must of Necessity pull and tear the Ventricle much more than the few before men∣tioned. 'Tis deny'd. For the Parti∣cles to be fermented and fermented, that is dissolv'd, will be more; but not the Fermentaceous, or Particles dissolving. Of which we have an Example in Le∣ven'd Bread, whose single Parts have no power to ferment another Mass of Flower; because the acid Particles are no longer predominant, but the Sulphu∣reous, as appears by the sweetness of the tast: And so long as that prevalency of the sulphury Particles continues in the dissolv'd Particles, so long they cannot become Acid or Fermentaceous (for Sul∣phur is Sweet.) As appears in Fevers, wherein acid Medicins are generally most plentifully prescrib'd, for the subduing of the sulphury Predominancy: And restoring the convenient fermentaceous Quality. For when the Prevalency of the sulphureous Particles is overpowered by the Force of the salt Acids, then comes the fermentaceous Acidity to be introdu•…•…d. So that there are not more acid, sharp, and corroding Particles in the full Ventricle concocting the Food▪ or if there be, they are so stain'd by the copious Liquor intermixt, so that they can occasion no troublesom Vellication to the Stomach; by which means the Hunger cannot be greater at that time, but rather ceases altogether. But when the Ghylus, and with that the dissolv'd sulphureous Particles intermixt with the salt are gone off to the Intestins, then the Remainder that sticks to the inner Tunicle of the Ventricle, or is carried thither with the spittly Juice, as being freed for the most part from the redun∣dancy of sulphurous Particles, grows sowre through the heat of the Ventricle, and so begins to tear again, and renews the Appetite, which ceases again, when that Acidity comes to be retemper'd by the Meat and Drink thrown into the Stomach, and its Acrimony comes to be mitigated and blunted.

XLIII. But if these fermentaceous Iuices are not only not moderated in the Stomach, but that through some defect of the Liver, Sweetbread, or other Parts, over sharp Humors are too abundantly bred in the Body; or flow from the Head, or some inferior Parts, into the Stomach, in so great a Quantity, that their Acrimonie can∣not be sufficiently tam'd and temper'd by the swallowed Food, then happens that preternatural Hunger which we* 1.140 call Canine; with which they who are troubl'd, often vomit up undigested Meat together with sowre Iuices like the Iuice of Limon (as they them∣selves confess) and by reason of the gnawing Acrimony, occasioned by the extream viscousness of the Humors remaining in the Ventricle, presently become hungry again and fall to eat. But if the fermentaceous Particles are in themselves very viscous, or thicker, and of a slower Motion, then they require a longer time to elevate them∣selves and excite Hunger; which chiefly happens when the acid Spirits less a∣bound in the whole Body, and conse∣quently in the Spittle, and that viscous Humor that sticks to the inner Tunicle of the Stomach.

XLIV. Sometimes also it happens that Hunger is frequently diminished, when bitter Choler ascends in too great Quantity into the Stomach (as

in cholerick Men, in the Iaundise, and several sorts of Fevers) and there∣in by its Mixture corrupts not only the fermentaceous Relicks of the Nou∣rishment remaining in the Stomach after the Expulsion of the Chyle, but al∣so the Spittle that flows to it. The more remote Causes of lessening the Appetite are various, as excess of Sleep and La∣ziness, excess of Care, and looseness of the Belly, &c. Overmuch Sleep, and too much sitting still, for that for want of sufficient Exercise of the Body, the Humors also are not sufficiently stirr'd; nor are the acid Particles conveniently separated from the Viscous, so that they cannot be sufficiently roused up to Acti∣on. In extraordinary Cares of the Mind hunger is not perceiv'd, because the Thoughts are otherwise employ'd. And as for loosness of the Belly, 'tis a certain Truth that the Ferment is vitiated.

XLV. Now these fermentaceous* 1.141 Particles that excite Hunger, as ap∣pears by what has bin said, are acid, or somewhat acid, and are the same that promote the Conoction of the Stomach, and ferment and dissolve the swallowed Nourishment. Hence it is, that Acids moderately taken in∣crease the Appetite, and cause a better Concoction of the Stomach. Of which we have an Experiment (besides our daily Experience in our Seamen, who make long Voyages to the Indies. For having fed upon thick and hard Meats for a long time, hence it comes to pass that their Appetites are deprav'd, and their Concoctions but weak; which breeds a Scorbutic ill Habit of Body. But when they come to Islands or Coun∣tries where they meet with plenty of Limons, and other acid Fruits, present∣ly their Appetite is restored, and all the concoctive Faculties, that languished be∣fore, are renewed, together with their Strength, through the said acidity, and so in a short time they recover their for∣mer Health. Therefore to keep the Seamen in Health in those long and te∣dious Voyages, the Masters of Vessels are wont to carry along with 'em a cer∣tain Quantity of Citron Juice, which they distribute now and then among the Mariners, when they find their Sto∣machs begin to fail 'em.

XLVI. Acid therefore are those fermentaceous Particles which excite Hunger; which if they be wanting in the Stomach, the Appetite fails, nor can the Chylification be perfected, but the Meat is thrown off into the Bowels raw and unconcocted as when it was first swallowed down: But they being again restored to the Stomach, the Con∣coction returns, and the Appetite is re∣stored. Hence says Hippocrates 6. Aph. 1. In long Fluxes of the Belly, if sowre Belches happen, it is a good Sign.

XLVII. Now how it comes to pass that the fermentaceous Particles ob∣tain that embased Acrimony, has bin already said, by an apt Heat melting those salt Particles to a degree of being Liquid and ready to flow. I say, Apt. For as Bread becomes well leavened in a luke warm Place by the Ferment mix∣ed with it, in a cold Place in great dif∣ficulty, but in a hot Oven can never be fermented: So this Acidity which will not be excited but by a moderate Heat of the Stomach, will not be stirr'd by too small a Heat, and is scattered and dispelled by too great a Heat; and thereby those Juices that should make the Ferment will be quite consum'd. Hence Flegmatic People that are troubled with a cold Distemper of the Stomach, have neither good Appetites nor good Concoctions; and Choleric Persons, who are infested with an over-hot Temper of the Stomach, have none at all. How∣ever it does not follow from this, that the greater the Heat of the Stomach is, the quicker must be the Appetite, and the stronger and better the Concoction: For the contrary appears in burning Feavers, and an Inflammation of the Stomach: As also in a Lyon, whether he be accounted the hottest of all Creatures, yet can he not digest Iron, Gold, Brass, or the like; which however are easily digested in the Stomach of an Estriche, as being endued with a sharper Ferment, tho' not with so fervent a Heat. As Langius relates that he saw at the Duke of Ferrara's Court an Estriche both swallow and digest those Metals, l. 1. Epist. 12.

XLVIII. Therefore it is not the Heat but the Ferment, which in some is more sharp and acid, in others more moderate, which is the next Cause of the Appetite and Digestion of the Stomach: But moderate Heat is the Cause which disposes the Matter which begets that Ferment that elevates and ex∣cites to Action.

XLIX. But whereas this Power* 1.142 and Vertue in the Stomach of making

this Ferment, and of Chylifying by its Assistance, cannot be excited into Action but by an apt and moderate Heat, some there are who question what, or rather where this Heat lies that produces this Action. Whether it be the Heat of the Membranes of the Ventricle, or the Parts that ly round it, or of any Humor, or any Spirits. Cer∣tainly there is no difference of this Heat in the diversity of Subjects, in relation to self; for all Heat is excited by the Motion and Agitation of the least Parti∣cles and subtil Matter (for because the Heat is fiercer in red hot Iron, slacker in the Flame of Straw; this does not ar∣gue the difference of the Heat it self, but of the Quantity, proceeding from the diversity of the Subject to which it is inherent) But the Diversity of Operations proceeds from the diversity of the things themselves, upon which, and by virtue of which the Heat acts. For the same Heat melts Wax, hardens Clay, wasts the Meat upon the Spit, bakes it in the Oven, and boyls in the Pot, putrifys in a Dunghil, and hatch∣es Eggs in a Stove, without the assistance of a Hen. In like manner to promote the Act of Chylification, it is required that the moderate Heat (which is no more than one and the same, should be proportionably adapted in the Stomach; that is, both in its Membranes, its Hu∣mours and Spirits, and that it should be cherished and foster'd in like manner by the Heat of the Parts that lie round a∣bout it; for so being truly and aptly proportion'd, it is impossible but the Ventricle must act properly and natu∣rally toward the Chylification of proper Matter, by dissolving and extracting a Chylus out of it.

L. The Preparation of Nourish∣ment* 1.143 for Chylification proceeds gradu∣ally after a certain kind of Method. For first the Spittle is mixed with the Meat which is chewed and masticated in the Mouth, not only softning them, but infusing into them, a fermentative Quality (of which Quality see l. 3. c. 6. & 24.) then comes Drink, Ale, Wine, or any other Liquor, which for the most part contains in it self acid Particles and fermentaceous Spirits. This Nourish∣ment the Stomach strictly embraces, and squeezes it self round about it by the help of its Fibres, and mingles with it the Specific fermentaceous Juices, as well those bred in the interior Tunicle, as those that are affused upon the Spit∣tle. Then by an apt and proper Heat there is a Mixture and Liquation or Melting of the whole Substance of the Nourishment together. For that the fermentaceous Particles sliding into the Pores of the Nourishment, withal get into their very Particles themselves, stir about, melt and dissolve the more pure from the thick, and render 'em more fluid, to the end they may be able to endure another form of Mixture; and be united among themselves into the form of a milky Cream. Which be∣ing done, by the squeezing of the Ven∣tricle they fall down to the Intestins to∣gether with the thicker Mass with which they are intermixt; in them to be separated by the mixture of Choler and the pancreatick or Juice, after ano∣ther manner of Fermentation, and so to be thrust down to the milky Ves∣sels.

LI. The certain Time for the fi∣nishing* 1.144 of Chylification cannot be de∣termined. For here is great Variety observed proceeding from the variety of the Temperament of the Stomach, Age, Sex, Position, and Disposition of the Parts adjoyning, and the Nature of the Nourishment themselves.

LII. But why some Meats are di∣gested sooner, some later; the Reason is to be given from the variety of the Meats themselves in Substance, Hard∣ness, Solidness, Thickness, Thinness, Heat, Cold, &c. For which reason some are dissolved with more case and sooner, some with more Difficulty and later in the Stomach. But then again, why the same Meats are in others sooner in others later concocted; and where∣fore some Stomachs will easily concoct raw Fish, hard Flesh, half boyl'd, or tho' it be raw, but the Stomachs of o∣thers will with great Difficulty the ten∣derest and best prepared Dyet; this pro∣ceeds from the various Constitution of the Stomach, the Ferment, and the pro∣portion of Heat.

LIII. What I speak of Meats, the same is to be understood of Drinks: Which for the same Reasons, and be∣cause of the same Varieties, are di∣gested in others well, in others ill, in others sooner, in others later; and render the Digestions of the Stomach, in others better, in others worse. For Example, if Wine or any other Liquor be drank plentifully, that is ei∣ther quickly digested, by reason of the

great Plenty, Thinness, and Spirituosi∣ty of acid Particles, and so flows down to the Intestines; or else by reason of the extraordinary Quantity, being very hea∣vy and troublesome to the Stomach, is thrust forth raw and undigested; of which Crudity the signs are sowre Belches, Vomiting, Rumbling in the Guts, and Crude Urines.

LIV. If fair Water be drank which contains no acid Particles, in a hot∣ter Stomach, or where sharp and hot Humours abound, there it uses to temper, and somewhat to suppress an excessive and stinking Fermentation: but in a colder Stomach, and full of cold Iuices, it hinders Digestion. For that by its cold Moisture it dulls the sharp fermentaceous Particles contain'd in the Stomach, and the Meat receiv'd; that is, by its intermix'd and plentiful Aquosity it breaks to pieces and separates the least Particles of the active Princi∣ples at too great a distance one from a∣nother, so that they cannot act with a mutual and sufficient activity one upon another, so that then there happens a lesser Motion, and for want of that the more cold arises, so that the fermentace∣ous Particles cannot be sufficiently atte∣nuated by the heat of the Stomach, nor elevated to a just degree of Effervescen∣cy; and then they become unable to act upon the Particles that are to be fermen∣ted.

LV. Note also that fat Meats too* 1.145 plentifully eaten abate hunger, and render the Chylifying Concoction more difficult; because they dull the Acri∣mony of the fermentaceous Particles: or rather because they so involve the chiefest part of the Particles of the Nou∣rishment receiv'd, that the sharp fer∣mentaceous Particles cannot act with conveniency upon 'em; which efficacy of Fat is to be seen in External Things. For Silver or Pewter Vessels being smear'd over with Fat, are not to be corroded by sharp Vinegar infus'd, tho' the Vinegar retain all its Acrimony. Nei∣ther will Aqua fortis corrode the Skin if well greas'd over. Thus the sharp fer∣mentaceous Matter acts with very great difficulty upon Meats that are over fat; which is the reason that the eating of too much Fat occasions vomiting. See more of Ferment, c. 17. & l. 2. c. 12.

LVI. Ludovicus de Bills; a kind of a paradoxical Anatomist is said to have observ'd the Time of Chylification in the dissection of Dogs, after this manner, according to the Report of N. Zas. If a Dog be fed with only sweet Milk, then the Chylification will be perfected about two hours after: Mix white Bread with that Milk, it will be three hours, or somewhat less, before the Chylification will be perfected. If the Milk be thicken'd with Barly Meal, and so eaten by the Dog, it will be four hours before the Chylus will appear in the Stomach: But feed the Dog with white Bread only, and it will require six hours to perfect the Chylus.

But these Observations of Bills are ve∣ry uncertain; for that all the Stomachs of Dogs are not of the same Constituti∣on, nor in the same Condition of Sani∣ty, nor digest their Meat in an equal space of Time; thence it will come to pass, that Digestion which shall be ac∣complish'd in the Ventricle of one with∣in an hour, shall not be finish'd in ano∣ther in two or three hours, though it be of the same Meat. Moreover, un∣less these Observations be meant of all sorts of Concoctions of Nourishment re∣ceived by the Stomach, they will con∣tradict both Reason and Experience, which will teach us that neither in Men nor Dogs, all Meats that are swallow'd into the Stomach, are digested together, nor are all their apt and agreeing Parti∣cles turn'd into Chyle; all at a time, the thinner first, the thicker afterwards, so that there can be no certain time pre∣fix'd for Chylification. For Milk being eaten with Bread, tho' perhaps it re∣quires three hours, before all the apt Particles shall be turn'd into Chylus; yet will it not be three hours before some Chyle be produced out of it; for the thinner Particles of the Milk will be sooner turn'd into Chyle, which will be conspicuous after one, sometimes in half an hour, and sometimes sooner, while the Bread and thicker Particles of the Milk shall remain to the third hour in the Ventricle. He then who affirms that the Chylification is not perfected be∣fore the end of the third hour, is in an Errour, for the very first hour a good part of it was perfected and finish'd.

LVII. Bernard Swalve in querel. & opprob. Ventric. elegantly describes the time of Chylification, and the Ob∣stacles that may happen to hinder it. Where he introduces the Stomach thus* 1.146 speaking:

All things that are receiv'd do not equally resist my Labour. One gives way sooner than another. Upon Milk meats I spend

but an hour; not full two upon Pot-herbs: Nor does the softness of Fish require that time. Food made of Flower, as Bread and Crust, I can hardly dissolve into Cream in four hours; and the harder the Flesh is, the longer and more diligently must I labour. Mutton and Beef require seven hours to tame their Contumacy. Here I stand in need of a greater quantity of A∣cids, and a greater resort and assistance of Spirits. Now my Substance operates more strongly, and then all these things are fre∣quently weaken'd and dispoil'd of their force. I omit to mention many things that disturb my Office, and hinder me in my du∣ty, now this, now that, which puts me in∣to a languishing Condition. For this is my misery, hence my tears, that I cannot resist the Invasion of External Injuries, and that I am expos'd to so many and so great Errours and Mistakes that obstruct me in my Employment. These Mischiefs are so fruitful, that I cannot always obtain my End in Digestion.

LVIII. Assuredly these things are ve∣ry* 1.147 well and succinctly described by Swalve, for that many and several sorts of Food being eaten at one Meal, do not all together, and at one equal distance of time, suddenly part with their Milkie Iuice; but according to the greater or lesser force of the Sto∣mach, and the fermenting acid Iuice, and the difference of Food in Sub∣stance, Quantity, Quality, Hardness, Viscosity, Thinness, Solidity, &c. The more spirituous and thinner Parts in some are sooner, in others later dis∣solv'd, and turn into Chyle; and they which are first digested, pass first through the Pylore or Orifice, the other remain∣ing a longer time in the Stomach, till a more accurate dissolution. This pro∣ceeding is manifest from the Refreshment after the Meal; For the strength of Na∣ture is soon repair'd, whereas the Meat is easily perceiv'd to remain in the Sto∣mach. Which first Refreshment is caused by the thinner Particles of the Nourishment first dissolv'd and concoct∣ed, and already discharg'd by the Sto∣mach. Which, should they remain in the Stomach till the absolute Concoction of the harder Masses, by that over-long stay they would be too much digested, and so become corrupted, or vitiated at least. And this Method is evident in the dissection of Dogs, kill'd presently after they have fill'd their Bellies. For generally in their Bowels and chyliferous or milkie Vessels, there is found a thin∣ner sort of Chyle, which we have many times shewn to the Spectators in a suffici∣ent Quantity, scarce an hour or two af∣ter they had eaten: especially if they fed upon a more juicy fort of Meats, when the chiefest part of the Food, not being yet turn'd into Chyle, still remain'd in the Ventricle.

LIX. Hence appears the mistake of* 1.148 many Physicians, who thought that the Nourishment which was first eaten was first discharg'd out of the Stomach; those things which were last eaten were last parted with. And hence they have been very careful to prescribe an Order in Feeding; as, to eat those things which are of easie Concoction first, and those things which are hard of Digestion last, for fear of begetting Crudities through a preposterous Order in Feeding; accord∣ing to the Admonitions of Fernelius 3. de Sympt. Caus. c. 1. 5. Pathol. c. 3. Mercu∣rialis 3. Prax. c. 12. Sennertus 3. Prax. part. 1. Sect. 2. c. 9. and of many others. Certainly whatever Variety is received into the Stomach is confus'd, mix'd, and jumbled together, and that by Fermen∣tation, by which the spiritous and thin Particles spread themselves, and free themselves from the dissolv'd thicker Substances, and so the thick being stirr'd and agitated together with the thin; by that motion there is made a Mixture of all together; of all which Mass, that which is sufficiently digested passes through the Pylorus, that which requires farther Concoction, remains of a harder Substance in the Stomach.

LX. Here three hard Questions are to be examined in their Order. First, Whether if Hunger be occasion'd by the acid fermentaceous Particles, crea∣ting a troublesome Vellication in the Stomach, what is the Cause of that which is call'd Pica, or a deprav'd Ap∣petite (as when People long for Chalk, Oatmeal, Lime, and the like.) Se∣condly, Whether in a Dyspepsie (or dif∣ficulty of Digestion and Fermentation in the Guts) Choler can be bred in the Stomach, such as is evacuated upward and downward in the Disease call'd Cho∣lera. Thirdly, Whether the whole Chyle, when concocted on the Stomach, fall in∣to the Intestines.

LXI. As to the first, The Cause of a deprav'd Appetite (call'd Pica and Malacia) seems to us not to have been by any person sufficiently explain'd; when as the affect it self is a thing to be admir'd, in regard the force of it

is such, especially in Virgins and Wo∣men (for men are seldom troubled with it) that they will often with a wonderful desire covet Meal, Chalk, Tobacco-pipes, Dirt, Coals, Lime, Tarr, raw Flesh, Fruits, and other strange things altogether unfit for Nou∣rishment; as live Fish, the fleshy and brawny part of the Members of a living Man, and Stones, (as Sennertus reports that he knew a Woman that swallowed every day two pound of a Grindstone, till she had at length devour'd it all) be∣sides several other Precedents cited by Physicians, and what daily occurs to our Observation. Now they generally af∣firm the Cause of this Mischief to be the deprav'd Humours contain'd in the Ventricle, which, according to their va∣rious Natures, excite in some a various Appetite to this, in others to that, whe∣ther bad or good: in some, to dissimilar noxious things, in others to similar, as the vitious Humours according to their diffe∣rent qualifications variously tear & move the little Fibres of the Nerves of the Ven∣tritle, by the peculiar Motion of which communicated to the Brain, there arises the same Motion in an instant in the Brain, by which a peculiar Appetite is stirred up to this or that thing. Francis de le Boe Sylvius Prax. l. 1. c. 2. as also in the Dictates of the Private Colledge assembled in the Year 1660. going about to explain this thing more particularly, asserts that the Cause of this deprav'd Appetite is a vitious Ferment of the Sto∣mach, corrupted either by the vitious Nourishment, Physic, or Poyson, swal∣low'd down; or by several Diseases, especially such as are incident to Wo∣men, infecting the whole Mass of Blood, then the Spittle, and lastly the Ferment of the Ventricle, and disposing 'em to an ill habit. But if this formal Reason be of any force, let us from thence also ask this Question, Why such an Appe∣tite, coveting this unusual Dyet, is also to be found in those who are troubled with no vitious Humours in the Sto∣mach, as I have sometimes found by Experience; tho' I cannot deny but that there may be now and then for all that some ill Humours in the Stomach? Wherefore in a Man, whose Ferment and Ventricle are without fault, meerly upon the wistful looking upon some Pi∣cture, sometimes of Fish, sometimes of Fruits, or other things not fit for Dyet, shall find himself to have a strong Sto∣mach for these things? in the same man∣ner as the looking upon the Picture of a naked Venus excites many Men to Vene∣ry? What, and of what sort must be the Nature and admirable Quality that must so move the little Fibres of the Nerves and the Brain, that by reason of that special Motion there must be an Appe∣tite to Grindstones, Tobacco-pipes, Coals, &c. which there is no body but knows can never be desir'd as a remedy against that troublesome gnawing, or as neces∣sary for Nourishment.

LXII. And therefore these things must proceed from some other Cause, that is to say, from the Mistake of the Imagination, and thence a deprav'd Iudgment arising from an ill habit of the Brain, and a vitious Motion of the Spirits; and not from the pravity of the Humours in the Stomach. For according as the vitious Humours aug∣ment or diminish the Vellication of the Fibres more or less intensly, it may in∣crease or abate the Appetite, but not di∣rect it to a particular choice of Dyet, especially such a one as is unnatural. For Hunger is a natural •…•…nstinct, by which Nature is barely excited to receive Nou∣rishment, as a remedy for the gnawing, but not more especially to this o•…•… that Food, or to this or that Dyet, if it may be so call'd, as being altogether unnatural.

LXIII. Then as for that which is said, That sound healthy People being a hungry, covet sometimes Fish, some∣times Flesh, sometimes Fruit, now roasted, now boyl'd, &c. This pro∣ceeds not from any peculiar Vellication or Gnawing, but from an Animal Ap∣petite, which judges that sometimes such sort of Meats, sometimes another, sometimes sweet, sometimes sowre, will be more grateful and proper for the Stomach; and therefore sometimes they covet more eagerly Wormwood-wine, raw Herrings, and several other things of themselves ungrateful, than others more pleasing to the Palate, and more wholesome.

LXIV. Now since the Choice or Re∣fusal of Meat, or of any thing else, depends upon the Iudgment, and Iudg∣ment proceeds from the Brain, cer∣tainly the Cause of coveting this or that peculiar thing, is not to be sought for in the Stomach but in the Brain; which if it be out of order, through bad Humours, and ill Vapours arising from any filth gathered together in the Womb, Spleen, or Sweetbread, and hence as∣scending

up to the Brain, easily occasions deprav'd Imaginations, whence follows a deep deprav'd •…•… Judgment, and through the mistake of that Judgment, noxious and absurd things are covered, rather than the best and most wholsome, as Chalk, Coals, &c. (A thing well known to happen to melancholly People, who many times doat upon one particular thing, tho' in other things their Judg∣ment is sound enough.) For how far Intent and frequent Cogitation upon a thing avails to increase such a deprav'd Appetite, is apparent in Women with Child, who many times long to that degree, that if they cannot get what they desire, the Child shall carry the Mark of the thing long'd for. Which impression cannot be said to preceed from any deprav'd Humours of the Sto∣mach, but from the Brain; for that the Imagination being intense upon those things, and Judgment made upon their use, and Benefit proceeds from thence, and the Ideas of those things are con∣veigh'd from thence, and imprinted up∣on the Birth by the Animal Spirits. Besides, they that are troubled with a deprav'd Appetite, do not always long for one and the same thing, but some∣times for one thing, sometimes another, as their Fancies are fix'd more upon one thing than another, which cannot be imputed to any ill Humour adhering to the Ventricle; for that then the longing for variety of things must proceed from the variety of Humours. Besides, these sort of Patients are troubled with a de∣prav'd Appetite when they are a hungry, and then they most eagerly long for those things which they have thought of before, whether good or bad; and be∣lieve 'em then not to be bad or hurtful, but pleasing and wholesom. Which Depravation of the Appetite I have cur'd more by Cunning than by Physic; en∣joyning the People of the House never to mention in the hearing of the Pati∣ents those hurtful things, and to remove all sorts of Pictures out of their sight; and in the mean time to feed 'em with wholesom Dyet, and that often in the Day, to prevent their being much an hungry.

LXV. There is one Objection re-mains,* 1.149 that is to say, If a deprav'd Appetite were not caus'd by the ill ha∣bit of the Stomach, the Patients would be sick upon the eating such kind of noxious Dyet, neither would such things be digested in the Stomach; but on the other side, it appears that few or none suffer any harm by it, with∣out doubt because there are those de∣prav'd Iuices in the Stomach, which are able to digest that preternatural Dyet, which the Stomach seems to have particularly requir'd, as a remedy for that peculiar Vellication or Twitch∣ing of the Nerves. But the force of this Objection is easily answer'd, when it is consider'd that it is not absolutely true, that such Patients receive no Dam∣mage from such incongruous and pre∣ternatural Dyet, and that it is only true in very few, and that only once, twice, or thrice, but that afterwards they are cruelly afflicted by it, contracting Oppi∣lations of the Bowels, the Dropsie, the wild Scab or Maunge, call'd Psora; and several other Distempers. But the rea∣son why they receive no Dammage at first, is twofold.

First, Because upon the eager devou∣ring of these things the Animal Spirits flow in great Plenty to the Stomach (as upon Venereal thoughts they flow in great abundance to the Generating Parts; together with a great quantity of Arteri∣ous Blood. Now how effectually these Natural Spirits operate in nourishing the Body, we shall explain more at large, l. 3. c. 11. and how far they conduce to the Concoctions of the Stomach, if they flow into it more plentifully than is usu∣al, is apparent in those Slaves to their Bellies, that waste whole days and nights in thinking what they shall eat, and are always stuffing their Guts. For they, by reason of the plentiful Spirits design'd for the Stomach, have much swifter and better Concoctions, than such as are al∣ways busi'd at their Studies, whose Ani∣mal Spirits are call'd another way; and therefore are frequently troubled with Crudities, and hardly are able to digest the lightest Food.

Secondly, Because they that are trou∣bled with a deprav'd Appetite, are for the most part melancholy; or such as breed more sowre fermentaceous Juices, are more sharp and copious than usual, in the Spleen, Sweatbread and Ventricle; whence when they begin to be a hungry, they have a sharper Stomach, and far more easily digest whatever they eat, than others; nay, than they themselves can do at another time. Thus I have known a Woman with Child, that long∣ing for ripe Cherries, has at one time eaten up six or seven pound together; another that has eaten thirty Cheesecakes; and another that would eat raw salt Herrings and digest 'em well, when

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at other times they did not use to be so greedy. And hence it comes to pass, that at sueh a time they will digest a large quantity of Meat, or those preter∣natural Things (as Oatemeal, Chalk, and Coals) or at least the Stomach dis∣charges 'em without any harm. But if they continue that immoderate Course of Dyet, that sharper Juice at length failing, it becomes such a Di∣sturbance to the Bowels and Stomach, that their Concoctions are thereby plain∣ly interrupted and deprav'd, to the breeding of copious bad Juices, that in∣crease a great quantity of ill Humors, which is the cause of several Di∣stempers. From all which I think it is sufficiently manifest, that a deprav'd Appetite does not primarily proceed from any deprav'd Humors bred in the Stomach, or sticking to it, but from some defect of the Brain, and mistake of the Imagination.

LXVI. The second Problem is af∣firm'd* 1.150 by Regius, and several other Physicians, altho' it be far from being true. For in a crazy Condition of Health, the Humors in the Stomach may be corrupted several ways, and many bad ones may be gathered to∣gether, and yet never any Choler bred therein. And for that which is exone∣rated upwards and downwards in the Disease called Cholera, that is not bred in the Stomach but in the Liver, col∣lected and amassed together in the Blad∣der of the Gall, the Porus Biliarius, and other places adjoyning; from whence, sharply or sowerly fermenting and boy∣ling, it bursts forth at last, with great Violence, into the Duodenum, and by virtue of that Motion is discharged and thrust out partly upward, through the Stomach, partly downward through the rest of the Intestines. Which is suffici∣ently apparent from hence, in regard that the Invasions of Choler are subitane, no Signs preceeding of any ill Affection of the Ventricle, or of any Choler bred or gathered togethet within it; and for that often when People have made a good Meal, not feeling any Disturbance either in the Appetite, or in Digestion, it overflows in their Sleep at Midnight, and sometimes in the day time, with∣out any foregoing Notice; which cer∣tainly could not but precede, if a copi∣ous quantity of Choler, the Cause of the Disaster, were bred in the Stomach, or gathered there together. Neither will Reason permit us to believe, that Nature has constituted various and se∣veral Organs to perform one and the same Office, such as is the Generation of Choler. For to ob•…•…ain that End, she makes use only of one sort of Means; and thus the Stomach alone Chylifys, the Liver alone breeds Choler, a 1.151 the Heart only breeds Blood, &c. Nor does the usual Subterfuge avail in this place; that Choler generated in the Stomach, is not natural, but preternatural Choler. For to this I answer, that that Choler, which the Distemper, call'd Cholera, (which Choler, they say, is bred in the Stomach) and in the Loosenesses of many Infants is discharged in great quantity, is a sharp, and for the most part eruginous or green Choler; I have found it to be such in the dissected Bodys of many that have dy'd of this Distemper, heap∣ed up together in great Quantity in the Gall-Bladder, and the ductus Cholodi∣chus; but little or none in the Stomach. Which is a certain Sign, that this Cho∣ler, when it is in a boyling Condition, breaks forth into the Stomach and In∣testines, but that it is not bred there.

LXVII. In Infants that have dy'd of such a green choleric Loosness, I have observ'd, and that frequently, the Gall-bladders full of very green Choler, and swell'd to the bigness of a large Hens Egg. So that it is most certain that where the natural, there the preternatural Choler is bred; that is to say, on the Liver. * 1.152 But some will say, that it is impossible that so great a quantity of green Choler should be so suddenly bred in the Liver, or be col∣lected and stir'd up from any other Part within it, as uses to be evacuated in the Disease called Cholera, in a few Hours: For in the space of four and twenty Hours, several Pints of that Matter are evacuated, to the filling of some Chamberpots, and therefore of necessity it must be true, that that Cho∣ler is at that time bred in the Stomach. To which I answer, That this Choler being gathered together from all Parts to fill the Gall Bladder, for the most part is of a dark green Color, and very sharp, and when this, being in a boyling Condition, breaks forth into the Inte∣stines and Ventricle, then it vexes and tears those Parts, and like a violently pricking Medicin, causes the Serous, and various other Humors, to flow from all Parts to the Intestines. Which being tinctur'd by a small quantity of green Choler infused into the Ventricle and Intestins, become all of a green Colour and so are discharged green out of the

Body: Which Redundancy of flowing Humors being sometimes very great, the Ignorant believe that it is only meer Choler that is expel'd the Body in such a great Quantity, when they are only other Humors coloured by the Choler. Now that this Choler causes such a Tincture by its Intermixture, I know by Experience; for that with half a Spoonful of that Juice taken out of the Gall-bagg; I have, in the sight of seve∣ral People, tinctured a whole Pint of Water.

LXVIII. The affirmative Patrons* 1.153 of the third Problem, with whom Regius consents, assure us that all the Chylus does not flow from the Stomach to the Intestins, but that some Part of it is conveighed to the Spleen, through the Vas venosum breve, and other neighbouring Ga∣stric Veins. For Proof of which they give a two sold Reason. The first is, because the Birth in the Womb is nou∣rished first of all with the milky Juice that swims at the top of it, and through the Navel-vein sticking to it, and not as yet extended to the Placenta, conveigh∣ed to the Liver and Heart of the Infant. Now if this happen to the Embryo; 'tis no wonder that when a Man is born, that part of the Chylus should pass thro' the Gastric Veins to the Spleen. The other Reason is, that after a Man has fed heartily, there follows such a sud∣den Refection, that so great and so sud∣den could never happen, if the whole Chylus were first to pass through all the milky Vessels; and that some part of it did not rather get to the Spleen by a shorter Cut, and thence reach to the Heart more speedily.

LXIX. To the first Reason, I an∣swer, That the Embryo is not at that time nourished with the milky Iuice, but with the remainder of the seminal Liquor, poured upon it by reason of its vicinity to it, entring the Pores, and soon after received into the Mouth: And that the Navel▪ vein, be∣ing at length fastened to the uterine Pla∣centa, can neither receive or attract any more milky Juice; So that an Agree∣ment with it and the Gastric Veins, was ill contriv'd from hence. Moreover, supposing that any thing of the alimen∣tary Juice were carried at that time to the Liver of the Birth through the Na∣vel Vein; I say, it does not follow from thence, that the Chylus in Men born, passes also out of the Ventricle through the Gastric Veins, and out of the Intestins through the Mesaraics: That Compari∣son being altogether lame, seeing that several Parts are in such a manner ser∣viceable to the Birth, which they can∣not pretend to in Men born. Of which, all the Navel Vessels afford us an Ex∣ample, the Foramen Ovale in the Heart; the Closure of the Arteria Pulmonaris with the Aorta, &c. besides that seve∣ral Parts have no use as yet in the Birth, that come to be serviceable in Men born, as the Lungs, the Liver, the Spleen, the genital Parts, the Eyes, the Nose, the Ears. So that from the use of any Part in the Birth▪ there can be concluded no use of any Part in a Man born; as we cannot conclude any use of the Gastric and Mes•…•…raic Veins from the use of the Umbilical.

LXX. As to the second Reason, it seems to infer a very plausible Argu∣ment from sudden Refreshment, that follows after Eating and Drinking, which is thought to be occasioned from hence, because that the more subtil Part of the Chyle, passing by a shor∣ter Cut from the Ventricle to the Spleen, gets far sooner to the Heart, and refreshes it, than if it were first to pass to the Intestins, thence thro' several milkie Vessels to the Vein cal∣led Subclavia, and so through the Vena cava to the Heart. Nay, I have sometimes heard that for a farther Proof of this Assertion, that an Exam∣ple was cited by Regius out of Ferneli∣us, of a certain Female Patient, whose Pylorus or Orifice of the Stomach was wholly obstructed, yet did she cat every Day, tho' she threw what she cat up again, and in that manner liv'd a long time. Which could never have bin, says Regius, unless something of the Chylus had bin conveighed out of the Stomach through the Gastric Veins to the Spleen. 1. Because the Chyle enters no other but the milky Vessels. 2. Be∣cause there are no milky Vessels at all, that are carried to the Stomach, or from the Stomach (as Deusingius pretends to assert Institut. Anat. tho' I do not be∣lieve that ever any Deusingian will pre∣sume to make out) so that if the Chyle should pass from thence to the Spleen, it ought to be conveighed through the Vas breve, and other Blood conveigh∣ing Veins; whereas they neither admit the Chylus, nor can receive it, for the Reasons brought concerning the Mesa∣raicks

l. 7. c. 2. 3. Because the Chyle is not separated from the thicker Mass, nor enters the milky Vessels, unless Choler be first mixed with it, together with the pancreatic Juice, which doth separate and attenuat•…•… it by a peculiar Fermen∣tation or Effervescency from the thicker matter that involves it; which Choler is poured forth into the Guts, and not into the Stomach, and if it should be carried to the Ventricle by Chance, that is, contrary to the usual Motion of Na∣ture, and then Chylification is disturb'd. Now that the Chyle cannot be separa∣ted from the thicker Matter, or atte∣nuated by Fermentation without the In∣termixture of Choler, so that it may be able to enter the milky Vessels, is apparent in those People that are trou∣bled with the yellow Jaundice; in whom, by reas•…•…n that the Choler cannot flow into the Duodenum, by reason of some Obstruction of the Cholodochus, or any other Cause whatever, that Distemper happens, because the Choler being de∣ny'd Passage into the Duodenum, the Patients cannot go so often to the Stool, and when they do, the Excrement is for the most part Chylous and white, col∣lected together in the Guts, and cannot be fermented and distributed for want of Choler. * 1.154 As to the suddain Re∣freshment after Meals, that comes not to pass by reason of any shorter Cut from the Stomach to the Spleen, and from thence through the Liver and Ve∣na Cava to the Heart (which however is not a shorter way neither, than when it is carried from the Ventricle to the Intestines) but because the subtil Va∣pors of the Nourishment, penetrate through the Pores of the Ventricle to the Heart (For the whole Body, as Hip∣pocrates testifies, is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, or full of Streams) and likewise all together gent∣ly tickle the Nerves of the Sixth Pair, common to the Heart and Ventricle; which is apparent from hence, because not only Nourishment, but all fragrant Smells, and cordial Epithemes or Ap∣plications, refresh those that are subject to swooning, and recover 'em out of their Fits; when as neither the Odors nor those things from whence the O∣dors exhale, reach either the Spleen or the Heart, but only the most subtil Vapors make their Passage through the Pores. And moreover 'tis wonder∣ful to think how soon the thin Particles of the Nourishment, which require but little Digestion, pierce through the mil∣ky Vessels to the Vein Subclavia, and the Heart. I have given to Doggs, empty'd with long Fasting, liquid Nou∣rishment of easy Digestion, and within three quarters of an Hour after having dissected 'em, I found in that short space of time a watery Chyle, very plentiful in all the lacteous or milky Vessels, car∣ried from the Ventricle and the Inte∣stines, tho' the Food seem'd to be all en∣tire in the Stomach. The History cited out of Fernelius seems not to be very rightly quoted. For I do not remem∣ber that ever Fernelius wrote any thing of Obstruction of the Pylore. In∣deed in his L. 6. Patholog. c. 1. he relates a Story of a Woman with Child, that had a hard swelling in her Stomach, so that no Nourishment could descend in∣to her Stomach, but presently upon touching that Orifice they returned to∣wards the Throat again, which Woman in two Months time, with all the Art and Endeavours that were used, could get nothing into her Stomach. But what is this Story to the Proof of the Opinion forementioned? He tells us the Nourishment could not descend into the Stomach, therefore no Chyle could there be made out of it; neither could the Chyle flow from the Stomach to the Spleen. The Story of Philip Salmuth Cent. 1. Obs. 20. might have bin cited and objected much more to the Pur∣pose, of a certain Person who was troubl'd with continual Vomiting, and was forc'd to throw back all the Meat he swallowed, by reason the Passage was stopp'd by a Scirrhous or hard Swel∣ling at the Mouth of the Pylore, as was found after he was dead. Another Sto∣ry like this is recorded by Benivenius observat. 36. and another by Riverius cent. 1. Obser. 60. and another by Schen∣kius exerc. l. 1. Sect. 2. c. 33. not unlike the Story which Io. Vander Meer rela∣ted to me of an Accident seen as well by himself as by several of the Physici∣ons in Delph, of a certain Woman that for half a Year lay very ill at Delf, and vomited up all the Meat she eat after some few Hours, the first well con∣cocted, the next loathsome and smel∣ling very badly: After which her E∣vacuations by Stool began to cease by degrees; so that for the first Week she did not go to Stool above twice or thrice, then once a week, and then hardly once in a Month, which brought her to nothing but Skin and Bone, till at length she dy'd: In whose Body, being opened, was found a Py∣lore all Cartilaginous, with an Orifice so small, that it would only give Passage to a little Needle. But seeing it appears

by these Histories, that the Pylore can never be suddenly nor long so streight∣ned, but by degrees, so the passage of the Chylus is obstructed by degrees, from whence it comes to pass, that for want of sufficient Nourishment, the strength is wasted insensibly, and the Body emacia∣ted by degrees: Seeing also that by their going to stool, tho' it were but very sel∣dom, and for that the Pylore would ad∣mit the passage of a little Needle, that it would not admit a greater Body, it appear'd that the Pylore in those Per∣sons was not totally obstructed, or if it were wholly clos'd up, yet that they did not live long by reason of that Ob∣struction, but dy'd in a short time, it cannot thence be prov'd that the Chylus passes from thence to the Spleen. For if this were true, the Patients strength would not have fail'd so soon through the Obstruction of the Pylore, nor have yielded so easie an Access to Death.

LXXI. Bernard Swalve consider∣ing* 1.155 these Difficulties, Lib. de Querel▪ & Approb. Ventric. p. 63, 64. dares not assert that Refreshment is occasion'd by the Chylus coming a shorter way than through the Intestins, but writes that supposing a case of necessity, the little Orifices of the Gastric Veins in the Tunicles of the Ventricle gape a little, and that into them, it is not the Chylus, which is too thick, but a more Liquid Iuice is speedily in∣fus'd presently, to be intermix'd with the Blood flowing back to the Heart. But according to this Assertion Swalve seems to offer a most cruel Violence to the Gastric Veins, and to force 'em to confirm his Speculation, as if by agree∣ment he would, at his own pleasure shut 'em up, but upon this Condition, that they should not gape, but in a time of necessity, or being open, should not emp∣ty their Blood into the Cavity of the Ventricle (which otherwise might easily happen, and so occasion Vomiting of Blood,) and that they should not take the Chylus it self, but only sup up a Liquid Humour out of the Stomach, and so carry it in a hurry to the Heart.

LXXII. The use of the Chylus is* 1.156 to breed good Blood out of it: But whether any parts are nourished at the first hand by the Chylus, before it be chang'd into Blood, is a Controversie.

This Galen most plainly writes con∣cerning the Ventricle, l. 3. de Natural. Fa∣cult. c. 6. in these words▪ Moreover this is the end (that is of the Concoction of the Stomach) that so much as is apt and agree∣ing in Quality, should take some part to its self. And therefore that which is the best in the nourishment, that it draws to it self in the nature of a Vapour, and by degrees, stores up in its Tunicles, and fixes it to 'em. When it is fully satisfied, whatever of Nourishment remains, that it throws off as burdensome. The same thing he also asserts, c. 12, 13. of the same Book. Val∣lesius confirms this Opinion of Galen by many Arguments, Controvers. Med. & Philos. l. 1. c. 14. That the Ventricle is nourish'd by the Chylus, the shape of its Substance, and these Reasons over and a∣bove, te•…•…us. If the Ventricle were not nourish▪d by the Chylus, neither would it digest the Food. For why does it generate the Chylus? Is it not to send it to the Liver? Therefore 'tis the Care of the Ventricle to nourish the Liver; and there∣fore it is not guided by Nature, but by Intellect. For those things that operate by Nature, are never concern'd with the care of other things. Moreover, either the Ventricle retains some part of the Chylus, and sends some part to the Liver, or it retains nothing at all of it. If it retain'd nothing, it would presently covet more, since only Nourishment seems to be that which can protect it from Hunger; and therefore the Blood alone is not proper to nourish the Mem∣bers. Endi•…•…s Parisanus is also of the same Opinion with Galen, l. 5. Subtil. Exercit. 3. c. 2. as likewise Hen▪ Regius Medic. l. 1. c. 4. neither do Peramatus and Montaltus differ from the rest. A∣ristotle contradicts Galen, who shews by many Reasons, l. 2. de part. Animal. c. •…•…▪ that the Blood is the last Aliment, and that all the Parts are immediately •…•…ou∣rish'd by that, and not by the Chylus. Plempius l. 2. Fund. Med. c. 8. tho' he thinks that both Pa•…•…ts may be easily maintain'd by reason of the weakness of the Arguments; nevertheless he asserts with Aristotle, That the Ventricle, and all the Parts, are at first hand nourish'd with the Blood, and supports this Opi∣nion by many Arguments. Of the same Opinion is Bernard Swalve in que∣rel. & Opprob. Ventric. we are also enclin'd to approve the Opinion of Aristotle, That the Blood is the last Nourishment▪ But I would have this added, That the Chylus contributes a certain Irrigation necessary▪ to moisten the Stomach and Milkie Vessels, without which they could not continue sound, tho' they may be nourished by the Blood. In the same manner, as many Herbs being ex∣pos'd

to the heat of the Sun▪ tho' they receive sufficient Nourishment from the Earth, yet languish and wither, unless they be often water'd; the moisture of the Water contributing new vigour to 'em; as loosning again the Particles too much dry'd and contracted by the heat of the Sun, and by that means giving a freer ingress to the Nourishment. In like manner the Tunicles of the Ventri∣cle and Milkie Vessels, unless moysten'd by the Chylus, would grow too dry, and so the Pores of the Substance being con∣tracted, would not so readily admit the nutritive Blood flowing into 'em, and for that reason would be much weak∣ned, and at length quite fa•…•…l in their Of∣fice. Which is the reason that by long fasting the Milkie Vessels are many times so dry'd up, that they can never be o∣pen'd again, which afterwards obstruct∣ing the Distribution of the Chylus, causes an Atro•…•…hie that consumes the Patient. But when there is a defect of that moi∣sture in the Brain, then the troublesom contraction of its Tunicles causes Thirst, and the Vellication occasion'd by the fermentaceous Juice that sticks to 'em, begets Hunger, neither of which a new Chylus pacifies by its Nutrition, but the Humid Moistures swallow'd produce that effect, and the Chylus extracted out of those by their moist'ning, by which the contraction of the Tunicles is releas'd; and the Acrimony of the Juice yet twitches, is temper'd and mitigated. And that this is done only by Humecta∣tion, is mani•…•…est from hence; for that all moist'ning things, as Ale, Water, Ptisan, and the like, being plentifully drank, presently allay and abate the thirst and hunger for the time.

LXXIII. But what shall we say of the Child in the Womb, which seems to be nourish'd by the Milkie Iuice a∣lone of the Amnion or Membrane that enfolds the Birth, at what time there is no Blood that flows as yet through the Navel Vessels? To which I answer, That the Birth is nourish'd by the thicker Particles of the Seed re∣maining after the forming of the Body of the said Seed, first partly chang'd into Blood in the Beating Bladder, or Bubble; partly clos'd together by Proxi∣mity a•…•…d some kind of Concoction: not that it is nourish'd by the Chylus or any Milkie Juice of the Amnion Membrane: but then the remaining Particles of the Seed being consum'd, then it is nourish'd by Blood made of the Lacteous Liquor of the Amnium. By which nevertheless it could not be nourish'd, were it desti∣tute of that Moisture with which it is water'd by the Lacteous Liquor. See more of this c. 29. of this Book.

LXXIV. If any one shall acknow∣ledge, That the Stomach, which be∣cause it is manifestly furnish'd with se∣veral Veins and Arteries, is therefore nourish'd with Blood, but deny that the Milkie Vessels were to be nourish'd with it, when they receive into 'em no Blood conveighing Arteries. I answer, That there are innumerable Parts in our Body, wherein the Arteries are not to be discern'd, tho' it be certain they enter into those Parts. And to which we can perceive no way through which the Blood should be conveigh'd; which Parts nevertheless are nourish'd by the Blood, and not by the Chyl•…•…s. Of which sort are the Corneo•…•…s Tuni •…•…e, the U•…•…eters, the Membrane of the Tympanum or Drum of the Ear, sundry Ligaments and Bones, ma•…•…y Gristles, &c In which number the Milkie and Lymphatic Ves∣sels may be reckon'd. For tho' En∣tra•…•…ce of the Blood into 'em be not so perceptible, yet can it not be thence con∣cluded, that the Blood does not find a way into those Vessels, when in many other Parts the Entrance of the Blood is not discernable, and yet their being nou∣rish'd proves the Access and Entrance of the Blood.

CHAP. VIII. Of the Guts.

I. FRom the right Orifice of the Ventricle, call▪d the Pylore, the Guts are continu'd; by the Greeks 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, because they are placed within the Body; and henco by the Latins call'd also Interanea.

II. They are Oblong Bodies, Mem∣branous,* 1.157 Concave, Round, variously wreath'd about, reaching from the Ventricle to the Podex, serving to re∣ceive the Chylus, and to contain and* 1.158 make way for the Excrements. I say for receiving the Chyle, &c. But it is a thing much controverted, whether they do not also contribute to the making the Chyle. For this seems to have been the Opinion of Galen, who l. 4. de us•…•… part.

has these words; The Guts, though they were not fram'd for the Concoction of the Chylus, but only to contain and distribute it, yet because Nature is sometimes sloth∣ful and idle, in its passage through the Guts, it comes to be perfectly elaborated. Aretaeus and Aretius follow the Opinion of Galen, and among the more modern Authors Spigelius; and the very Simi∣litude of the Structure of the Ventricle, the Guts seem to make for him; as well in the Substance, Temper, Colour, and Contexture of the Tunicles. And Plempius, sway'd by these Authorities, l. 2. Fund. Med. c. 8. assumes the Affir∣mative; and affirms that the same Con∣coction which is perform'd in the Sto∣mach, may be perform'd in the Guts (which Regius also inculcates) and hence concludes, the Clysters made of Liquid Nourishments, given at the Fundament, may nourish, in regard there is a thick Chylus concocted out of 'em in the Guts, and carry'd away through the Milkie Vessels, and so communicated to the whole Body. But we rather approve the Negative; for that seeing all man∣ner of Crudity proceeds from a cold and moist Distemper of the Stomach, (as in a Lientery) the Meat is evacuated without any alteration, or without any manner of Concoction, which however, were there any chylifying virtue in the Guts running a long way through their crooked Windings and Meanders, would at least gain some kind of Alteration in∣to a Chylus. Moreover, the Choler flows continually together with the Sweetbread Juice into the Guts, and in them indeed ferments the concocted Nourishment, but by the virtue of that peculiar Effervescency, and its Bitterness, it rather hinders than promotes chylific Concoction, as is apparent when it sticks in too great quantity to the Stomach. And then who can believe, that Clysters mixt with the Excrement in the thick Gut, can be chang'd into a Chylus, and consequently nourish the Body. The stinking Place, and the feculent Ordure therein intermix'd, plainly teach us, that there can be no alteration into Chyle made there. Perchance they may so far repair the strength of the Body, as some more subtil and benign Vapours may ascend through the Pores and Ves∣sels to some superiour Bowels, and some∣what refresh 'em, in the same manner as the Odor of Wine, hot Bread, Ho∣ney, Aqua vitae, and roast Meat, re∣ceiv'd thorough the Nostrils, refresh the fainting Spirits, tho' they be not turn'd into a Chylus.

III. The length of the Guts exceeds* 1.159 or equals the length of the Person whose they are, six times more, or less, (others who also measure in the Stomach and Gullet, say seven times, or somewhat less.) Hippocrates stretches 'em out to twelve or thirteen Cubits. Vesalius to fourteen Italian Ells and a half. We commonly measure 'em at fourteen of our Dutch Ells, or very near. Only in the Year 1668. in November, once at a Public Dissection we found the Guts of one Person to be sixteen Ells and a half; and hence, that they might lye in a little room, placed in the Ab∣domen with several windings and crooked Circumvolutions, and joyned to the Mesentery, by means of which they were ty'd to the Back, and sustain'd by the Cavities, the Os Ilium.

IV. There was a necessity for such a* 1.160 length and circumvolution, that the concocted Nourishment falling down from the Stomach, might stay the long∣er in the Guts, be more conveniently fermented by the mixture of the yel∣low Choler, and the Pancreatic Iuice, and by that means the more subtil Parts of the Chyle being separated from the thicker Mass, might with more ease be thrust forward into the narrow Orifices of the Milkie Vessels, partly by the proper Peristaltic Motion of the Entrals, partly, and that chief∣ly, by the impulse of the Muscles of the Abdomen, mov'd by the force of Respiration: And to that end, because the Separation ought to be made in the small Guts, Nature leads about, and forces the thinner Substances through several windings and turnings as through so many Stops and Remora's, whereas she carries the thicker Substances tho∣rough a Circular and Oblique Passage only. Moreover, she has form'd cer∣tain little Folding-doors to open and shut, which hinder the over rapid course of those things that flow downward. For had the Chylus flow'd down through the short Guts, either before a due and con∣venient Fermentation, or could pass from 'em, whereby the Body had been deceiv'd of its due and convenient. Nou∣rishment, she had constrain'd Man to eat often for the support of himself, and to supply that defect by continual fil∣ling. Of this Cabrolius and Riolan•…•…s give us several Examples, that is to say of Men most voracious, in whom, after

their decease, one Gut has been found, and that wonderfully short, in the shape of a great Roman S. Add to this, that the Excrements had flow'd down much more speedily, and had thereby expos'd Man to the more frequent duty of Eva∣cuation.

V. Their Circumference is round,* 1.161 to the end they may be more capacious, and for the more easie descent of those things that pass through 'em.

VI. Their Substance is Membra∣nous,* 1.162 like the Stomach, having also a triple Tunicle. The Exterior common, and overcast with Fat, arising from the Membranes of the Mesentery, springing from the Peritonaeum. The Middlemost fleshy; interwoven with several thinner Fibres, especially the transverse and streight Fibres. The Innermost nervous, which in the slender Guts is wrinkl'd, to stop the Chylus, and overspread with a kind of fleshy spongy Crust, but very thin, (which some call the Peristoma, others the Silken Covering, others the Woolly Moss) through which Fallopius believes the Chylus to be transmitted and strain'd, as it were, through a Sponge; and to prevent the Injuries of the sharp Humours, and for the better defence slippery, by reason of a slimy Clammi∣ness, generated cut of the Excrements of the third Concoction; but in the thick∣er Guts dilated into little Cells. Riolanus l. 2. Anthrop. c. 12. writes; tho' without any ground, that the Carneous and Fleshy Tunicle, which is the middlemost in the Stomach, is the innermost in the Guts, and that the innermost is thick, but how∣ever more nervous, and not much diffe∣rent from the inner Tunicle of the Ven∣tricle.

VII. Now in regard the Guts are* 1.163 furnish'd with Fibres of all sorts; the Question is, Whether they have an attractive Force, by which they may draw the Chylus out of the Ventricle. Many maintain the Affirmative, induc'd thereto by the Authority of Avicen, and many other Arguments; but erroneous∣ly; seeing there is in 'em no such attra∣ctive Force. In like manner there is also another Question started concerning their Retentive Faculty. Both Questi∣ons are learnedly and at large discussed by Andrew Laurence l. 6. Anat. c. 15. Quaest. 10, 11.

VIII. They draw their Nerves from* 1.164 the sixth Pair; their Arteries from the Mesenteric Branch, both upper and lower, and some from the Intestinal Branch of the Coeliac Artery.

IX. Innumerable Roots of small* 1.165 Veins dispers'd between their Tunicles, meeting together about the knitting of the Mesentery, form many Veins, from the Ingress of the Mesentery, which they ascend together, call'd the Mesa∣raics; which at the upper part of the Mesentery, a little before its Ingress into the Vena Porta, close together into two greater Branches, and so con∣stitute the right and left Mesaraic Vein.

X. Into these Vessels are ingrafted* 1.166 the Mesenteric Milkie Vessels, gaping with their Orifices toward the inner Guts, and receiving the Chyle from 'em, and conveighing it to the Grand Receptacle of the Chyle.

XI. The Temperament of the Guts* 1.167 is said to be cold and dry; that is to say, speaking comparatively, as they are less hot and dry than many other Parts.

XII. The Use of the Guts appears* 1.168 by what has been said already, not on∣ly to receive the Nourishment concocted in the Stomach, but also that a Sepa∣ration may be made there in them, of what is useful, from what is unprofita∣ble; and from them to send what is profitable into the Milkie Vessels, and exonerate what is unprofitable at the Fundament.

XIII. Now the act of Propulsion* 1.169 and Expulsion, is perform'd by the Compressure of the Muscles of the Ab∣domen, which is very much assisted by the proper Motion of the small Guts, proceeding from the Contraction of the Fibres, resting in their proper Tunicles, which is very conspicuous in living Cats and Coneys dissected. And it is most certain, that this Motion of the Fibres is perform'd by the Oblique, but chiefly by the Transverse Fibres, and by them the Things contain'd are thrust down from the upper Parts to the lower. Which Motion, if it happen to be irre∣gular, which rarely happens, and that the Fibres by their Contraction move the things contain'd in the Guts, begin∣ning from the lower Parts to the superi∣our, then the Ordure carried up from the thick Intestines, ascends into the Sto∣mach,

and is thence vomited out at the Mouth. Thus I remember I hand∣led* 1.170 a young Lad that lay sick at Nim∣meghen, who, besides many other nasty* 1.171 things, vomited up a Suppository that was given him at the Fundament. And here at Utrecht, in the Year 1658. in* 1.172 April, I had prescrib'd a Clyster to the most prudent and grave Consul Wede, who then lay very ill, which being in∣jected at the Fundament, in a little time he vomited up again, from which ex∣travagant Motion I concluded a Prog∣nostic of Death, which ensued some few hours after.

XIV. Tho' there be but one Gut* 1.173 from the Pylore to the Fundament, yet in regard of the thickness of the Substance, the Magnitude, Shape, and variety of Function, it is distinguish'd by Anatomists, into the thin or slender Guts, and into the thick.

XV. The thin or small Gut, so call'd* 1.174 from the thinness of its Substance, possesses all the Navel-Region, and the Hypogastrium. And this, according to the shape, situation, length, and plenty of Lacteous Vessels, is by the Ancients said to be threefold. The Duodenum, Iejunum, and Ilium.

XVI. The first is continuous to the* 1.175 Pylore, by Galen call'd 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, the springing, or proceedings forth: by the ancient Greeks, and Hierophylus, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, and thence commonly by the Latins call'd Duodenum, from the measure of two Transverse Fingers; tho' most Modern Anatomists will hardly allow it the measure of four Fingers. But if you reckon from the Pylorus to the Inflexion of the Iejunum, where it rises upward athwart, lying un∣der the Sweetbread, then it will be found to be twelve Fingers in length.

XVII. This Duodenum contigu∣ous* 1.176 to the Pylore upon the right side, nor wreath'd with Circumvolutions, tho' it be narrower than the rest of the Guts, yet is of a thicker Substance than all the rest of the small or thin Guts, and is bor'd thorough, about the breadth of four or five Fingers from the Pylore (but seldom about the middle of the Jejunum, though Plempius says he has seen it) in the wrinkle of its Flexure, where sticks out a little Teat, sometimes with one hole common to the Cholidochus; and that other found out by Wirtzungius, sometimes perforated with two several holes proper to both Chanels. Which holes, if they be two, the one transmits into the Duct•…•…m 〈◊〉〈◊〉, the other into the 〈◊〉〈◊〉. But if there be b•…•…t one Chanel at the Ingress, (which is frequent in Men, very seldom in Dogs) then the Point thrust into that Gut to∣ward the upper Parts, enters the Ductus Biliartus; if toward the lower Parts, it enters the Ductus Pancreaticus. Veslingi∣us reports, and daily Dissections teach us, that this Gut is found to be of an extraordinary laxity and largeness, and then seems to be joyn'd as a lesser Ven∣tricle to the larger Ventricle. Which Laxity happens from the sharp fermen∣taceous and vitlous Humours sliding into it; which occasions vehement fermenta∣ceous Ebullitions, by which the Gut is not only very much distended, but often times fill'd with troublesome Rumb∣lings, great Pains, sharp Prickings, and extraordinary Anguish which thence a∣rise.

XVIII. It begins, as has been said,* 1.177 from the Pylore, and by and by go∣ing down backwards under the Ventri∣cle, it is reflex'd toward the right Kidney, and adhering to the broader end of the Pancreas or Sweetbread, is fasten'd to the Vertebers of the Loyns and the left Kidney by membranous Ligaments, and then extending it self downward to the beginning of its windings, ends under the Colon▪

XIX. The second is call'd by the* 1.178 Greeks 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, by the Latins Jejunum, because it is found empty for the most part, as well for the great quantity of the Milkie Vessels that enter into it, as also because of the more speedy Ebul∣lition of the Chylus, by reason of the Choler and Pancreatick Iuice flowing at first hand through its proper Chanels, or its separation from the Dregs, and passage into the Milkie Vessels.

XX. It is in length about twelve or* 1.179 thirteen Palms, and about a Fingers breadth wrinkled with many windings; and seated under the Pancreas, near the Back-bone, in the Region of the Navel, chiefly toward the left side, be∣ginning from the first Circumvolution of the Intestines, and ending where it ceases to look black and bluish,

and to be empty. Theodore Kerckringius Observ. 39. takes notice in this Gut of some little Valves or Folding-doors, as it were, for that they do not so shut up the Gut, as to fill up all its Cavity: But about the middle of its Cavity so shut it up, that being each of 'em broader at one end than another, they grow narrow∣er by degrees, and then a little lower are received by another, which being broader in that part where the other is narrower, so frame and constitute the Gut, that those things which fall down from the upper Parts may slip down, but not be precipitated as it were at one fall. The same Kerckringius was the first also that discover'd and observ'd Valves or little Trap-doors like to these in the Colon Gut, which he has plainly shewn me in a thick and blown Gut, and then dry'd, which is the best way to discern 'em most perspicuously. And therefore he deservedly merits the Applause of this first Invention, seeing that never any Person before ever made mention of these Fol•…•…ing Docrs or Valves, that I know of.

XXI. The third proceeding from* 1.180 the foremention'd, is call'd Ilium, by the Greeks 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, from its being twisted and twirl'd; and Volvulus by the Latins, by reason of its Circum∣volution, and the multitude of its Twistings.

XXII. This being seated under the* 1.181 Navel, next the Lateral Parts of the Abdomen and the Ribs, equals the breadth of a transverse Finger; and in length exceeding the other two Measures one or two and twenty Palms.

XXIII. The Original of it is where the Intestine begins to grow narrower, and being somewhat ruddy, ends at Bauhinus's Valve, where the Colon begins.

XXIV. That which follows is call'd* 1.182 Intestinum Crassum, the thick Gut, as being of a more fleshy and thick Substance; and that is also divided into three Parts, the Blind, the Co∣lon, and Intestinum Rectum, or the Right Gut.

XXV. The first is that which the* 1.183 Greeks call 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, the Latins Caecum, so call'd from its obscure use; or else because it is not passible or penetrable at the other end; whence it is also call'd 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Mesocolon. And therefore it is a small Appendix, like a long Worm, sticking to the beginning of the Colon, in length about four Fin∣gers transverse, having a small Cavity in People grown up altogether empty, but in the Birth full of Excrements. Spigelius has sometimes found a round Worm within it. In fourfooted Beasts it contains some Excrements for the most part.

XXVI. It is not fasten'd to the* 1.184 Mesentery, but by the help of the Peritonaeum is joyn'd to the Right Kidney.

XXVII. The Use of this Gut was* 1.185 unknown till of late; tho' some there were that attributed to it this Use, others that, tho' all were but vain con∣jectures, with which they thought fit∣ting rather to expose, than confess their own Ignorance.

XXVIII. The second of the thick Guts is called Colon, as much as to say 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, or hollow, as being the most hollow of all the Guts; or as o∣thers will have it, from 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 to hinder, because the Excrements are Stops in its little Cells. This is larger and broader than the rest, as being eight or nine Palms in length.

XXIX. It begins about the Os* 1.186 Ilium, knitting it self to the next Kidney; hence it ascends upward, and then being turned toward the Liver, it proceeds athwart under the bottom of the Stomach, to which, by the help of the Caul, it is joyned, and on the left Hand is joyned to the Spleen and left Kidney with thin Membranes, and then winding a∣bout the left Os Ilium, weaves to the beginning of the Intestinum Rectum.

It possesses the upper Part of the Bel∣ly. 1. To the end the Excrements that are gathered within it, may be rowl'd down by their Weight, and so the more easily exonerated. 2. To as∣sist in some measure the Concoction of the Stomach by the heat of the Excre∣ments; in regard the Chymists believe no Digestion to be so natural as that which is perfected by the heat of Dung. 3. Secondly, to prevent the middle Mesentery from being compressed by the weight of the Excrements: Which would very much straiten the milkie and Lymphatic Vessels, and Mesaraic Veins and Arteries.

XXX. It has a proper Ligament,* 1.187 about the breadth of the middle Fin∣ger, according to its length extended at the upper Part from the Caecum to the Intestinum Rectum, wherein the Row of little Cells is contain'd.

XXXI. It is ty'd to the upper and* 1.188 lower Parts by the Assistance of the Peritonaeum. Veslingius ascribes to it two peculiar suspensorie Ligaments that never appear. But the Extremity of it, which below the left Kidney extends it self to the beginning of the Intesti∣nam Rectum, is ty'd to no part, but re∣mains free from any manner of Band, and is overspread with a good quanti∣ty of Fat.

XXXII. At the Ingress of the thin* 1.189 Gut, it has an orbicular Valve, or little solding Door, looking upwards, which prevents the Ascension of the Excrements and Vapors, which from the first Finder, is now called Bau∣hinus's Valve, tho' others rather as∣cribe the first Discovery to Varolius, and Salomon Albertus: But Riolanus raises a bitter Contest concerning it.

XXXIII. Anatomists do not agree in the Description of this Valve. 1. Some say, that it is a Membrane sticking to the Gut on one side, and drawing before it a Curtain. 2. O∣thers say, it consists of two Mem∣branes opposite one to another, placed toward the inner Parts of the Colon, which closing together, shut up the thin Gut. 3. Others believe there is no true Valve in that place, but a fleshy Circle, wrapt over the thin Gut, where it enters the thick one, and contracting it like the sphincter Mus∣cle. 4. We our selves formerly, as has bin said in the Preliminaries, could not think it to be any other than a loose circular Membrane, or some little Lappet of the Ilium Gut, where it enters the Colon: Which when any thing ascends out of the Ili∣um into the Colon, gives way and opens: But when the quagmiry Excrements or Vapors descend from the Colon to the Ilium, falls and folds down, and so by ob∣structing the way, hinders the passage towards the thin Guts; in the same man∣ner as in the little long Gutters of Lea∣ther hanging out at the sides of Ships, through which the Water that falls up∣on▪ the Decks, readily flows out again. But tho' the Waves dash upon those; Gutters, yet because they do not mix with the Water, therefore the Water coming not into them, does not flow back. Now that we might be assur'd in this our last Opinion, I thought it convenient to fish out the Truth a little farther by some Experiment. And therefore having taken the Colon out of a Body, with a part of the Ilium, and ty'd it at both ends with a Pack thread, and blew into it with a strong Breath, through a small Pipe, and kept the Wind within with a small Thread, and then dry'd the Gut, so distended, in the Air, till it became hard: And then we could clearly discern, not only those half opening Valves of the Colon sound out by Kerckringius, but we also ob∣serv'd the aforesaid Valve of Bauhinus, to be a Membrane spread athwart over the Ingress of the thin Gut, and hang∣ing somewhat over toward the inner Parts of the Colon, and bo•…•…'d through in the middle from one side to the other with a right or straight Hole, as if slit with a Penknife. And so we observ'd also, that the Lips of both those Open∣ings closing, the Ingress of the Ilium into the Colon was so guarded by these Valves that nothing could fly back again▪ And by this View we found, that of the foresaid four Opinions, the second was the most probable, but that the first, third, and fourth, which was our own, was a Deviation from the Truth. Only that the third rightly and truly asserts, that there is a certain fleshy Circle which laps the Ingress of the Ilium into the Colon.

XXXIV. In this Colon, the* 1.190 thicker sort of Excrements are ga∣thered together, and contain'd till the time of Exoneration, whereas it would be a great Shame and Trouble to have his Excrements continually dropping from him. For which rea∣son it is very large and capacious, and has little closing Valves, to stop and re∣tard the Excrements. And by reason it encompasses almost the whole Abdo∣men, sometimes ascending, sometimes descending, hence it happens that the Dregs and Excrements to be expell'd, pass down more slowly, requiring two or three times of compressing it self for their Expulsion.

XXXV. The third and last of the* 1.191 thick Guts, is the Intestinum Re∣ctum, which descending in a streight Line into the hollow of the Hips, ends

in the Fundament. Call'd by the Greeks 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, because it runs on without any Excrescencies or Windings; also 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, because it is the Beginning; or 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, because it constrains us as it were by a kind of Command, to quit our selves of the Burthen that oppres∣ses us.

XXXVI. It is far inferior to the* 1.192 Colon in Length and Br•…•…dth, as not being above one Palme and a half in Length, and about three Fingers broad; but in Thickness and Carno∣sity exceeds all the Guts: Being out∣wardly covered with fat Appurtenan∣ces.

XXXVII. It is ty'd to the Os Sa∣crum;* 1.193 and Coccyx, by means of the Peritonaeum, and in Men is fastned to the Root of the Penis, in Women to the Womb by a musculous Substance, whence springs the great Consent of these Parts.

XXXVIII. The End of it is the* 1.194 Fundament, called Anus, and Po∣dex, which has three Muscles: The First, which is called Sphincter, and is fasten'd to the lowest Parts of the Os Sacrum, embraces and purses up the Fundament orbicularly, to keep in the Excrements. To this, there are some who add another, but of a thinner Substance for the same Use, inseparably joyn'd to the former, and as it were riveted into the Skin, at the Extremity of the Fundament. But this the greatest part of Ana∣tomists confound with the first, and make but one of both. The other two are called Levatores, or Funda∣ment-Lifters, which rising from the Ligaments of the Coxendix, and Os Sacrum, descend distinct to the Sphincter, and intermix their Inser∣tions with it, to the end they may draw the Fundament back again, brought down by the Force of strain∣ing, in Evacuation. Tho' Riolanus derives their Original from the Bones themselves, yet he divides 'em errone∣ously into four Muscles, whereas such a Division cannot be made without Di∣laceration, as de Marchettis well ob∣serves, Anat. c. 3. These Muscles being loosened by any Accident, cause a fal∣ling of the Fundament, or rather a sinking down of the Gut.

XXXIX. Into the Fundament are* 1.195 ingrafted the Roots of the Haemor∣rhoid Veins, which are two fold. Of which, the Internal ascending some∣times to the Right, sometimes to the Left Mesenteric Veins, and sometimes to the Splenic Branch, empty their Blood into the Vena Porta; but the Ex∣ternal enter into the Hypogastric Branch.

XL. Arteries accompany the Veins,* 1.196 proceeding partly from the lower Me∣senteric Branch, and partly from the Hypogastric Arterie.

XLI. To these, three or four little* 1.197 Veins joyn themselves, deriv'd from the extream parts of the pith of the Back, which make this Gut very sen∣sible, and infuse Spirits into the Muscles to enable their Contraction.

CHAP. IX. Of the Mesenterie.

I. THE Mesenterie, or 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, is so called from its Situa∣tion, as being placed in the middle of the Bowels.

II. It is a membranous Part sea∣ted* 1.198 in the middle of the lower Belly; destin'd not only to bring the Vessels safe to the Intestins, and carry 'em back again, but also to be a common Band of all the Guts themselves, lest their manifest Windings and Turn∣ings should be confounded and intangl'd to the manifest hazard of Life and Health.

III. Which tho' it be but one, is* 1.199 divided by some into the Mesaraeum, or Mesenterie, and the Mesocolon, while the thin Guts stick to the first, the thick Guts to the latter.

IV. It consists of a double strong* 1.200 Membrane, continuous to the Perito∣naeum, and every where stuft with Fat. Besides which, Wharton writes Adenograph. c. 7. That he has found out and demonstrated a Third Middle∣most and proper to it, somewhat thin∣ner than the former, and propping up the Vessels and Kernels within it.

V. From the Center to the Circum∣ference* 1.201 it is about the bigness of a Span. But the Shape of it is Circu∣lar,

whose Circumference is contract∣ed into innumerable Folds, to streigh∣ten the length and widness of the Guts, and to contain their proper Situation and Order. In the Middle it is large, Oblong in the Sides, especi∣ally on the left Side, where it descends to the right Gut. But it is of an extra∣ordinary thickness in fat People, the bulk of Fat being largely augmented: In others it is much more thin.

VI. It rises about the uppermost* 1.202 and third Vertebra of the Loyns, to which it is ty'd with a very firm Connexion. Fallopius believes it to de∣rive its Original at the Nervous Plexa∣re, or Knitting, from whence it takes its Beginning; of which more c. 18. & l. 3. c. 8.

VII. It has several very small and* 1.203 soft Glandules, inserted among the Membranes; and in the middle, one great one, all which it is most certain do manifestly conduce to the attenu∣ation and greater Perfection of the Chylus. And of these Glandules there is great Difference found in the num∣ber, not only in several sorts of Animals, but in many Individuals of the same Species: However this is observ'd in Man, where they are sewer in number, their bigness compensates that Defect. Now that they conduce to the Attenua∣tion and perfecting the Chylus hence ap∣pears, for that innumerable milkie Ves∣sels run through 'em (after what man∣ner is to be seen Cap. 11.) and pour the Chylus into 'em, to imbibe in it something of a slight subacid Quality, for its grea∣ter Perfection; which Vessels procee∣ding from 'em, meet together at length in the middlemost great Glandule, and thence in a direct and short Channel are carry'd to the Receptacle of the Chylus, into which they empty their milkie Juice. This Glandule Fallopius and Asellus erroneously call the Pancre∣as or Sweetbread, and many at this day, the Pancreas Mesenterii; but very far different from the real Pancreas seated under the Stomach.

VIII. This both Experience and* 1.204 our own Eyes do teach us. For if these Glandules come to be obstructed by any Accident, or that the Liquor bred in 'em (concerning which see something in the preceding Chapter, & l. 2. c. 2.) and which is to be of necessity, mix'd with the milkie Iuice, has by any accident acquir'd an over acid Sharpness, then the milkie Iuice within 'em becomes coagulated in the Form of a Cheese, and by reason of its abundant Overflowing swells very much: By which means the Passage is obstructed to the Chylus that comes next, whence such People as are troubled with this Distempet (by reason of the Di∣stribution of the Chylus is obstructed) are troubled with the Coeliac Flux, and grip'd with Pains in the Belly, and by reason of Passage deny'd to the Nourishment, labour under an Atrophie, and by degrees are wasted to death. Of which I have already given three Ex∣amples.

IX. The first was of a Scotch Soul∣dier,* 1.205 who during his stay in India, and a long tedious Voyage upon his return, having fed upon unwholesom Dyet all the while, fell into a languish∣ing Sickness, and labouring under a Coeliac Flux with Gripings of the Guts, tho' his Appetite was still in∣different good, was brought to our Hospital, where after he had lain three or four Months, and that all this had been try'd in vain to cure his Coeliac Flux, at length he dy'd as lean as a Rake. The Body be∣ing opened, first there was to be seen an overgrowing Spleen hard and black; a Pancreas extreamly swell'd, hard and of an Ash-Colour; we also found the innumerable Glandules in the Mesente∣rie (which in some Persons are hardly discernable) to be very tumid, and somewhat hard, insomuch that some were as big as a Bean, but most of 'em as big as a Filberd, and some few as big as a Nutmeg. But when they came to be dissected, there was nothing in 'em, but a certain white Cream coagu∣lated into a milkie Substance.

X. The second Example was of a* 1.206 poor Girl of about eleven Years of Age, who dying of such a Flux of the Belly, accompanied with rumbling and Pain in the Belly, was reduced to nothing but Skin and Bone. I o∣pen'd her Body in November 1656. at the request of her Parents, who be∣lieved her to have been bewitch'd and kill'd by diabolical Arts, and by the murmuring and hissing in her Guts, be∣liev'd Snakes, Toads, and other Crea∣tures to have bin bred in her Bowels. But when she came to be open'd, we

found, as in the former innumerable Glandules of the Mesenterie, very tu∣mid and somewhat hard, of which ma∣ny were as big as a Filbert, and some somewhat bigger. Their outward Co∣lour in some was white, in others speck∣led like black and white Marble: But within fide, as well in these as in all the rest, was contained a very white milkie Juice, curdl'd into the form of a Cheese. The Spleen and Pancreas somewhat exceeded their due Proportion.

XI. The third Example was of a* 1.207 noble Danish Child, called Nicholas Retz, between seven and eight Years of Age, who having lain under a great Atrophie for several Months, accompanied with griping in the Guts, at length reduced to Skin and Bone, dy'd in June 1662. Whereupon be∣ing desired by his Friends and others, who had the Care of him, to examine the cause of the Child's Death for the Satisfaction of his Parents, I opened the Body in the Presence of several Specta∣tors; and there I shew'd the Liver, Spleen, Heart, Lungs, Kidneys, Ven∣tricle, and Guts, all in good Order and well Condition: Only the Pancreas was somewhat swell'd and ill coloured: But in the Mesenterie appear'd the certain Cause of his Death: For that the in∣numerable Glandules of the Mesenterie, were swell'd to such a wonderful degree, with an extraordinary hardness, some as big as a Filberd, others somewhat bigger, and many as big as a Bean: They were all of a white Colour, and contained in 'em a white Cream coa∣gulated to the hardness of a dryer sort of Cheese, which hindring the Passage of the succeding Chylus, was the cause of the Atrophie, and consequently of the Death of the Child that ensu'd.

XII. From whence it is sufficient∣ly apparent that the Coeliac Flux, and Atrophie, is occasioned by the Obstruction of those Glandules or Kernels. Nor is that their Use, which Anatomists commonly ascribe to 'em, that is to say to prop the Veins and Arteries carried through the Mesenterie, but in them, as in all Glandules, there is something of a particular fermentaceous Liquor bred, to be mix'd with the milkie Chylus; and for that Reason they be∣come serviceable to the milkie Vessels (not the Sanguiferous) and hence by reason of their Obstruction, or some∣thing else amiss (such as is occasioned by a vitious Ferment mingled with the Duodenum) many times the Membranes of the Mesenterium are stuft with a world of ill Humors, the occasion of lan∣guishing Fevers, and several obstinate and diuturnal Distempers.

XIII. Riolanus has conceiv'd a* 1.208 strange Opinion of these Glandules, Anthropog c. 15. while he asserts, that by reason of them, the Root and Foundation of all Strumas is in the Mesenterie: And that never any Strumas appeared without the Body, unless the Mesenterie were strumous; Which he says, was also the Opinion of Guido and Iulius Pollux, with whom it seems he rather chose to mistake, than to understand by physical Practice and Philosophy, that Strumas have no Af∣finity at all with the Glandules of the Mesentery, being only design'd for the farther Preparation of the Chylus alone. Neither can those Strumas that break out on the outside of the Body, pre∣tend in any manner to any Cause or Ori∣ginal in the Mesenterie: Since daily Ex∣perience tells us, that most People who are troubled with Struma's, are sound in all other Parts of their Bodys; nor do they complain of any Distemper in the lower part of the Belly, whereas the Diseases of the Mesenterie are usual∣ly very fatal to the Patient. And the very Cure it self instructs us in the con∣trary, which is chiefly perform'd by Topics, that would never prevail, if the original Cause of the Distemper lay concealed in the Mesenterie. Lastly in the Dissections of Persons troubled with Strumas, the same thing manifestly ap∣pears, who are for the most part seen to have a sound Mesenterie.

XIV. The Mesenterie derives its* 1.209 Nerves from the Plexure of the in∣ner Nerves of the sixth Pair; and the Nerves proceeding from the Mar∣row of the Loyns; which causes it to be so sensible in its membranous Part, tho' it be more dull of Feeling in its Fat and glandulous Part, for which Rea∣son Apostemes ly long conceal'd in it be∣fore they be discern'd as they should be, either by the Patient or Physician.

XV. Its Arteries proceed from the* 1.210 mesenterie Branch of the great Arte∣rie, the Right and Left, or the Up∣per and Lower.

XVI. It has several Veins running* 1.211 between its Membranes, call'd the

Mesaraic, which rising with very small roots from the Tunicles of the Guts, and mutually opening one into another, as they frequently meet in the Mesentery, at length meet altogether in the two greater Branches, that is, the right and left Mesenteric continues to the Vena Porta. These infuse the Blood, forc'd through the Arteries to the Mesentery and Guts, being the re∣mainder of the Nourishment of these Parts, into the Porta Vein, thence to be conveigh'd to the Liver. Of the Use of the Porta and Mesaraic Veins, see more l. 7. c. 2.

XVII. Besides the Arteries and* 1.212 Mesaraic Veins, an innumerable Com∣pany of Milkie Veins, and many Lym∣phatic Vessels run through it, of which we shall discourse c. 11. & 13.

CHAP. X. Of the Pancreas or Sweetbread.

I. THE Pancreas or Sweetbread so call'd in Latin, as being all Flesh, is also call'd by another name 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, and by the Latins Lactes, from its inner white and milkie co∣lour.

II. It is a glandulous, loose and* 1.213 shapeless Body, situated at the first Vertebra's of the Loyns, under the hinder part and bottom of the Sto∣mach, cloath'd with a thin Membrane from the Peritonaeum, and as it were hanging at it.

III. The shape of it is oblong and* 1.214 flat.

IV. With its broader part adjoyn∣ing* 1.215 to the Confines of the Liver, it lyes under the Stomach near the first Verteber of the Loyns; and including the Meatus Biliarius and Trunk of the Porta is joyned to the Duodenum: Hence it extends it self toward the Spleen, and sharpens by degrees, but is not fasten'd to it.

V. The Substance of it is altogether* 1.216 glandulous, and consists of many as it were little Knots or Knobs, cohe∣ring together by means of the Vasa Intercidentia, or interpassing Vessels, and many small Fibres, and included in the common Membrane taken from the Peritonaeum. From whence it is that Francis de le Boe Sylvius describes the Sweetbread to be a conglomerated Glandule, compos'd as it were of many small Kernels gather'd in a cluster toge∣ther, and cloath'd with their own pro∣per little Membrane. These little Knobs make a shew of being hard, but taken together, seem to be very soft, by reason of their loose Connexion.

VI. The colour of it is pale, hardly* 1.217 shewing the least tincture of any Blood; neither does it agree in colour with any of the fleshy parts. And hence proceeds the wonder, that by the ancient Anatomists it should be call'd 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, that is, all fleshy; whereas it should have been rather nam'd 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, or all kernelly.

VII. The bigness is not the same* 1.218 in all Persons; for sometimes you shall find it to equal the length of six, seven, or more cross Fingers, seldom so short as three or four. Its greatest breadth is generally two Fingers and a half; its thickness the breadth of one Finger.

VIII. The weight of it is various,* 1.219 according to the weight and difference of the Body. Wharton has observ'd it in Men of full-grown Age to weigh four or five Ounces for the most part. Regner de Graef has observ'd it in Hor∣ses to weigh eleven Ounces. In sickly People it exceeds the usual bigness, and is often full of Corruption (of which Riolanus, Hildan, R. de Graef, Horsti∣us, Tulpius, Blasius, and others, give us several Examples,) and sometimes also little Stones breed within it, as were found to the number of seven or eight, at Pa∣ris, in the Body of a certain deceas'd Nobleman, by the Report of R. de Graef, lib. de Succ. Pancreat. who also adds in the same place another Example out of Sennertus, of a Pancreas harden'd to a Gristly Substance.

IX. It is furnish'd with small* 1.220 Nerves from the sixth Pair, more e∣specially from the upper Plexure of the Abdomen.

X. It receives its Arteries from the* 1.221 left Branch of the Coeliac Artery, leaning toward the Back; and some∣times from the Splenic Artery.

XI. It sends forth its Veins to the* 1.222 Splenic Branch near the Porta: Fur∣thermore, it transmits a Trunk of the

Vein, which in some measure it em∣braces.

XII. It is also stor'd with many* 1.223 Lymphatic Vessels: In the middle part of it, according to its length, a pe∣culiar Chanel extends it self, indiffe∣rently capacious, and consisting of a thin and strong Membrane, call'd from the first Discoverer Ductus Wirt∣zungianus.

XIII. This one Chanel runs through the middle of the Bowels, and re∣ceives an innumerable Company of little and small Vessels, open into it from all parts of the Bowels. Among which there is one somewhat bigger than the rest, which it admits in its lower part, not far from its Ingress into the Intestin. Sometimes there are two Chanels to be found, but not equal in their length, of which the one keeps its wonted Station; the other remains a little lower; but both are joyned to∣gether for the most part, and make one Orifice: Sometimes also the other enters the Ductus Cholidochus near the Duode∣num, while t'other perforates the Inte∣stine a little below. Frederic Ruisch, Ob∣servat. Anat. 12. writes, That he has often observ'd two Pancreatic Chanels in Human Carkases, of which neither had any Communication with the Du∣ctus Cholidochus: also that he rarely found this Chanel single in Dogs. For that in reference to this Chanel the Sport of Nature is various, even in the same Creatures sometimes, but more especial∣ly according to the diversity of Animals. For that some have one, which is most frequent in Men: Others two, others three, which being often joyn'd toge∣ther, before their Exit out of the Pan∣creas, sometimes enter the Intestine se∣parately. In some, they are inserted into the Ductus Biliarius; in others, part∣ly into the Intestine, in some few, they are inserted into the Stomach; which happens most frequently in some sort of Fish.

XIV. The Chanel call'd the Wirt∣zungian, tho' it be easily discover'd in Men, yet is not so soon found out in Dogs; because their Pancreas is not contracted, as in Men; but thin and extended in length; and sometimes as it were divided into certain Parts. But if the Instrument be thrust into its Orifice, where it opens into the D•…•…ode∣num, the Chanel is presently to be found.

XV. The Orifice of the said Cha∣nel* 1.224 discharges it self into the Duode∣num, having an opening sufficiently large, sometimes the breadth of four, sometimes five or six Fingers from the Pylorus, in a remarkable wrinkle of the Flexure of the Duodenum, (where there is a very small extuberancy, de∣noting its Exit) next to the going forth of the Biliary Pore in Men, in Dogs about two Fingers breadth below the Exit of the Meatus Biliarius, and not unfre∣quently opening into the very Biliary Chanel it self, (as is familiarly observ'd in Sheep) and some affirm that there is a Valve belonging to it, looking outward, and obstructing the Ingress of any thing out of the Intestine into the Chanel. But because the Chanel from part of the Intestine easily admits the Instrument, and for that this Valve did never mani∣festly appear to us, we are apt to believe, that an Oblique Insertion into the Inte∣stine is sufficient to exclude the Hu∣mours, as shall be said concerning the Ductus Biliarius, c. 15. In another part being extended toward the Spleen; it grows slenderer and slenderer, till it quite vanishes, before it reach the ex∣tream Part of the Pancreas, so that it never touches the Spleen, nor enters it, which is that which some have endea∣vour'd to perswade us.

How Nicolas Steno found this Chanel call'd Wirtzungian in Birds, he most ele∣gantly describes Lib. de Musc. & Glandul. in these words:

XVI. There is, saith he, an Ob∣servation made upon Birds, that is of very great use for the Explanation of the Wirtzungian Duct. For in seve∣ral sorts of Birds, I have seen a dou∣ble Pancreatic Chanel, meeting also with a double Ductus Biliarius (of which the one comes from the Vessel of the Gall, where it does not lye upon the Liver, the other from the Liver it self) the Insertion of which four Ves∣sels varies three manner of ways. For either they all meet together in one Mouth, or every Pancreatic Chanel, with its Bilary, enters into a common Mouth, so that the Intestine is only pervious at two holes; or else every Chanel having its own particular Cha∣nel, is the occasion that there are four ways into the Intestines. Lately I saw the Hepatic Ductus in a Turky-Hen, where it went forth out of the

Liver single, but then being divided in its progress, it ran to the Intestine with two little Chanels, so that the In∣testine by that means receiv'd the Cho∣ler out of three little Vessels.

XVII. Into this Wirtzungian Duct, out of all those little Knots, of which the Pancreas consists in Men, certain little Branches like small Rivulets run abroad, and pour out the Pancreatic Humour, prepar'd and concocted in the little Knots of the said Pancreas, to be thence carried to the Duodenum. But in that Chanel there is never any Pancreatic Iuice to be found, because it flows with a steep Current into the Duo∣denum, and never stays in the Chanel: In like manner as the Urine flowing from the Reins through the Ureters, by reason of its rapid Passage, is never to be found in them.

XVIII. I admire at Lindanus Med.* 1.225 Physiol. c. 16. Art. 16. vers. 244▪ where he asserts this Chanel to be an Artery; but that it is uncertain from whence it springs, whether from the Aorta, or the Coeliac, before its Splenetic Emission. Assuredly it has no similitude with the Artery, neither in Substance nor in Use, neither is it any where continuous with the Arteries: nei∣ther does it beat, or contain any Blood as the Arteries, but without any Blood car∣ries in it a certain peculiar Liquor; nei∣ther does it discharge it self into the Veins, as the Arteries do, but into the Cavity of the Intestine. Neither is it true which Lindanus adds, that is to say, That from this Chanel (which he calls an Artery) several little forked Branches are extended into that Bowel, whereas indeed several little forked Branches run out from the little Knobs of the Bowel into the Chanel, as has been said. There∣fore less erroneous were they, who affirm∣ed this Chanel to be a Vein, as resem∣bling a Vein in the Structure and Spe∣cies of its Substance, whereas indeed it is no Vein, nor carries any Blood, but is another sort of Membranous Vessel, appointed for the Conveyance of a pecu∣liar Humour.

XIX. As to the Office of this Bow∣el* 1.226 (and I hope no Body will be offend∣ed, that by virtue of a peculiar Philo∣sophical Licence, we call this noble Glandulous Body a Bowel) there have arisen sharp Contests; while some af∣firm'd that it did only support the Divi∣sions and Separations of the Vessels, and lay under the Stomach like a Pillow; others asserted that it fed upon the cru∣der Portion of the Blood; others that it assisted the Heart in Sanguification; o∣thers that it drew Melancholy from the Spleen, or furnish'd the Stomach with fermentaceous Juice, or supply'd the place of the distemper'd Spleen. Others that it receiv'd the Chylus, and concocted it to a greater perfection, and separated the Choleric Excrement from it. All which Opinions, when I found 'em to be meerly Conjectural▪ and altogether uncertain, nor supported by any solid Reasons or Experience, I thought fit to be a little more diligent than ordinary in the Examination of this almost neg∣lected part of Anatomy: and at length, after many Experiments (of which some succeeded ill, some well; for that besides the Pancreatic Iuice; there flow'd for the most part great store of Choler by the Ductus Cholidochus into the Duodenum, ty'd both above and below, and then slit long-ways; which Choler spoil'd both the Colour and Taste of the Pan∣creatic Juice) I found by the Dissections, as well of Living as of newly strangled Creatures, a certain Sublimpid and Sa∣livatick, or Spittly sort of Liquor flow from the Ductus Pancreaticus, somewhat sowre, and slightly Acid (tho' Needham, contrary to all Experience, denies its A∣cidity.) And sometimes having some∣thing of Saltness mix'd with it (and the same in mangy Dogs I have observ'd to stink, and to be of a very ill taste) I say I observ'd this clear and salivous or spittly sort of Liquor to flow from the Ductus Pancreaticns into the Duodenum, and that sometimes to a very considera∣ble quantity; but never any of the Vasa Chylifera extended to this Bowel, nor e∣ver was any Chyle found in it.

XX. Whence I judg'd, that tho'* 1.227 several Anatomists have describ'd se∣veral Vasa Chylifera running out of this Bowel, and caus'd 'em to be de∣lineated in their Tables; nay tho' Schenckius himself deriv'd the Vasa Chylifera from hence, and were di∣stributed from hence toward the Me∣sentery, tho' Veslingius and Baccius affirm that the Chylus flow'd out of it being wounded, and tho' Dominicus de Marchettis fancy'd that he had observ'd several Chanels running out toward the Liver, and distributed from it to the Guts, yet that all they

were deceiv'd by some preconceiv'd O∣pinion;* 1.228 and that neither the Vasa Chylifera do run out of it, neither is the Chylus emptied forth into it, but that there is in it a peculiar Humour concocted in it, bred out of the serous and saltish part of the Arterious Blood which is carried into it, mixt with some Animal Spirits brought and con∣veigh'd through the small and scarce discernable Nerves. Which Humour flowing into the Duodenum, and be∣ing there mixt with the Choler flowing also thither, and the Nourishment digested in the Stomach, and falling down through the Pylore into the Sto∣mach, raises a peculiar Effervescency in those Aliments, by virtue whereof the profitable Chylous Particles are se∣parated from the Excrementitious, at∣tenuated, and made more fit for Li∣quation and Distribution. And this Operation is apparent from the Diversi∣ty of the Substance of the Aliments con∣cocted in the Stomach, and still contain'd there, from the Substance of those which are already fall'n down into the Guts. For those are more viscous and thicker, and retain the Colours of the various sorts of Food; These more fluid, less slimy, and more white. Which aptness for Liquation is prepar'd, to the end that by the Peristaltic Motion of the Intestines the Chylous Particles may be forc'd through their innermost mucous Tu∣nicle into the Milkie Vessels, while the rest that are more thick fall down by de∣grees into the thick Guts, there to be kept till the time of Evacuation. Now this Effervescency is occasion'd by the Volatil Salt of the Choler, and the sulphu∣rous Oyl meeting with the Acidness of the Pancreatic Iuice, as in Chymistry we find in like manner the same Efferve∣scencies occasion'd by the meeting toge∣ther of the like Mixtures.

XXI. These things being more seri∣ously consider'd, I was confirm'd in my self, that the Pancreas or Sweet∣bread is no such useless Bowel, as it is by many describ'd to be; nor that the Iuice which is prepar'd within it is so small, that it can scarcely be di∣scern'd, nor that it is unprofitable or excrementitious, as many have hither∣to thought; but that it is a Iuice of which there is a moderate Quantity, and by reason of its specific subacid Quality very necessary to raise a new Effervescency in the Guts, together with the Choler that is mixed with it, of the Nourishment concocted and fall'n already down from the Sto∣mach, and by that means a separation of the profitable from the unprofitable Particles, and that therefore a sound Constitution of Health depends in good part upon a sound Pancreas or Sweet∣bread, and that through the unsound∣ness of the Sweet-bread many Diseases proceed, hitherto ascrib'd to Distem∣pers of the Spleen, Liver, Mesentery, and other parts. And it may be easily observ'd, that upon its Juice being out of order, that is either too plentiful or too sharp (especially if there be too co∣pious a mixture of sharp Choler) there is occasion'd an Effervescency too vio∣lent and disorderly in the Guts, which is the cause of sowre Vomits, Belchings, Wind, distension of the Bowels, Diar∣rhea's, Dysenteries, Colick Passions, and several other Diseases▪ tho' it is as certain, that most of these Diseases may proceed from a vitiousness in the Choler only.

XXII. On the other side, if the Sweetbread Iuice be two scanty, too mild and insipid, it causes but a weak Effervescency, Obstructions, Atrophie, and extraordinary binding of the Bo∣dy. Or being too Salt and Acid, and rising toward the Stomach, it occasions Canine Hunger, Reaching, sowre Belch∣es, &c. but falling down into the Guts, extraordinary Gripings, Corrodings, Loosness, &c. Ascending toward the Head, together with the Blood, Epi∣leptic Convulsions, and as it were Hy∣steric Passions, and Melancholy Ra∣vings. Therefore Highmore out of Aubertus, relates, That in a noble Wo∣man, long troubled with an Epilepsie, and as it were an Hysteric Passion, and at length dying of those Distempers, there was nothing found defective but her Sweetbread.

XXIII. Ascending toward the Sto∣mach or the Heart, it causes Palpita∣tions of the Heart, Swooning Fits, to∣gether with an inequality and weak∣ness of the Pulses, &c. Thus High∣more relates from the same Aubertus, That a Merchant of Leyden could not sleep, or if he did, he swooned away, and at length went away in one of those

Fits; in whose Carkass, all other parts being safe, only the Sweetbread was found putrified with an Aposteme. And thus according as this Juice is variously affect∣ed, it occasions various Distempers, as are to be seen in those that are troubled with Hypochondriacal Diseases, of which a great part are to be attributed to the bad disposition of this Juice. Which Impurities it contracts, partly through ill Dyet, as salt Meats, smoak'd Meats, Sowre, Acid Food, and such like; or through the bad Concoctions of the o∣ther Bowels, especially of the Spleen: For that from these Causes, by reason of the vitious Ferment of the Blood, many Particles of the Blood in the Heart being render'd less spiritous, and some∣what acid and salt, and remaining prone to Coagulation, and so being carried through this Bowel to the Arteries, can∣not be sufficiently concocted therein, nor chang'd into a Ferment convenient and proper for the concocted Aliments already slid down to the Guts.

XXIV. Two years after I had made these Examinations, and committed 'em to writing, there was brought me a Disputation of the Learned Regner de Graef, once my Scholar, held in the Academy of Leyden, under the Presidentship of the famous Professor Fr. de le Boe Sylvius, concerning the Pancreas or Sweetbread, and its Iuice, which confirm'd me much more in my Opinion. For at length, among many other Experiments, after several Endeavours and Inventions to little or no purpose, he found out an ingenious way, whereby this Juice might be ga∣thered together in a living Dog; which he afterwards very liberally shewed to Us, and several other Spectators, in the Month of March, 1665. He took a fasting Dog, and having ty'd his Mouth that he should not bite, and opened his Aspera Arteria with a Pen-knife, that he might breath through that hole, pre∣sently he ript open his Abdomen, and then binds the Gut, as well under the Pylore, as under the Egress of the Pan∣creatic Ductus, and then dissects and opens it between those two Ligatures in the Ex∣ternal Part, which is free from the Me∣sentery; and with a Sponge wipes away the Choler, Flegm, and other Stuff which he found there. Then taking a small Quill of a wild Duck, at the one end of which he had fitted a small Glass Bottle close stop'd round about, he thrust the other end into the Ductus Pan∣creaticus, which in Dogs is two Inches broad below the Egress of the Ductus Biliarius; and then with a needle and a double Thred, sew'd the Gut and the Ductus to the Quill and the Bottle, so that the Quill with the Glass Bottle, hanging without the Abdomen, should not stir either from the Gut or the Du∣ctus. This done, he put back the Guts that hung out before into the inner Parts, and sews up the slit of the Abdomen with a strong Thread, and so keeps the Dog alive as long as he could, that is, for eight or ten Hours. In this manner, within the space of seven or eight hours, he received into his Bottle an indifferent quantity of this Limpid Juice that di∣still'd into the Bottle thorough the Quill, sometimes half an Ounce, sometimes six Drams, sometimes a whole Ounce; of which we tasted, and found the taste to be the same as I had tasted in several of my Experiments before mentioned, that is, a little sowre, somewhat saltish, and somewhat Subacid. The whole O∣peration De Graef relates more at large in his Disputation, and describes in his Tables annexed; and farther testifies, That in some Dogs, that perhaps were not so sound, he has observ'd that Juice to be very impure, that it yielded some∣times a stinking, sometimes a nauseous, sometimes a very austere and astringent taste; in so much that they who tasted it were all that day troubled with an uneasie Suffocation, sometimes with stinking Belches, and Reaching of the Stomach. The same De Graef, in a lit∣tle French Book which he published in the Year 1666. upon the same Subject, writes, That at Anjou, in a Man that dy'd suddenly, and was dissected before he was cold, he collecttd together the Pan∣creatic Juice, and found the Acidity of it to be so very pleasant to the taste, that he never tasted the like in Dogs. And in the same Book, and more at large in Lib. de Suc. Pancreat. Edit. An. 1671. c. 7, 8, 9, 11. he discourses of the Qualities of this Juice, how being mix∣ed with the Choler, it promotes Effer∣vescency, and causes the Chyle to be white; and what Distempers it causes, if vitious; all which would be too long here to repeat. Most certainly a most ingenious Invention, and for which the Industrious and Learned Discoverer de∣serves a high Applause, who by this Industry of his has lighted us a Candle to the better and clearer knowledge of most Diseases.

XXV. But by the way we are to ob∣serve, That as the first Discoverers of new Inventions are generally giv'n to err in this, that they have such a ten∣der affection for their new-born Em∣bryo's, tho' yet but weak and imperfect, that they will observe no Deficiency or Error in 'em, but with an extraordi∣nary Pride, loathsome to all Company, endeavour to extoll'em above others, more mature and perfected by Age and Experience; So does Regner de Gra∣ef in this part shew himself a little faulty, while he following the most fa∣mous Francis de le Boe Sylvius, from this one discovered Cause of many Dis∣eases, endeavours to deduce the Cau∣ses and Originals of all Distempers; believing that Diarrheas, Dysente∣ries, Colic, Epilepsies, Syncopes, Hysterical Suffocations, Fluxes of the Terms, Agues, and I know not how many other Diseases, proceed from this one Cause; as if no other vitious Humours, bred by the ill Habits of the other Parts, could ever occasion such Diseases. Whereas a thousand Disse∣ctions of Bodies, that have dy'd of those Diseases, plainly demonstrated that those Diseases were occasion'd by the viticus habit of the other Parts, in regard the Pancreas in them was absolutely sound.

XXVI. We have also in the sight of many Spectators demonstrated, that when the Sweetbread has been safe and untouch'd, Diarrheas, Dysenteries and Colicks have proceeded from some Corruption of the Liver and Cho∣ler; Epilepsies from the depravation of the Brain and Meninx's, or by some stinking Ulcer in the Ear: also that several Fevers are occasion'd by vitious Humours bred in the Body through the bad Temper, ill Concocti∣on, Corruption, Ulceration or In∣flammation of the other Bowels and Parts, as in Pleurisies, Inflammati∣ons of the Lungs, Squinancies, Phrensies, &c. Also that many times deadly Symptomes and most terrible Hysteric Passions and Fits are occasi∣on'd only by the Distemper of the Testicles preternaturally swell'd, and containing a virulent, yellow, livid Iuice, sending up virulent Exhalati∣ons to the upper Parts. Which Dis∣eases have been many times cur'd by the Evacuation of that vitious Matter, without applying any Medicins to the Pancreas or Sweetbread, that was altoge∣ther Innocent of the Distemper.

XXVII. In the Year 1667. No∣vemb. 16. I dissected in our Hospital a Carkass of a young Maid of four and twenty years of Age, which had lain sick for three years together, some∣times troubled with immoderate de∣fluxions of her Courses, sometimes with Gripes of the Colick, sometimes with Diarrhea's, and want of Appetite; lastly an▪ Anasacra or Hydropsical swelling of the whole Body; and toward her latter end oppress'd with a tedious Cough, accompanied with filthy Spittle; in which Body we found the Sweet∣bread almost entire, and without any Dammage; but the Liver was in a very bad Condition, not dy'd with a red, but with a black and bluish Co∣lour, and the Lungs full of many little Ulcers. Which being seen, many Per∣sons, as well Physicians as Students in Physic, renounc'd the Opinion of Sylvi∣us, and Regner de Graef.

XXVIII. On the other side Whar∣ton has started a new Opinion con∣cerning the Use of the Sweetbread, be∣lieving the Excrementitious Iuices of the Nerves to be purified therein, and chiefly of that Complication which lies under the Nerves. Which from the sweet Taste of the Substance of the Sweetbread, he judges not to be bitter or sharp, but sweet and insipid. But in many other Places of his Adenogra∣phy, he discourses after another manner of the other Glandules; and affirms 'em to prepare the Alimentary Juice for the nourishment of the Nerves. But who can believe that there should be a redun∣dancy of Excrements in the most pure Animal Spirits, and that they should flow from all parts of the Body through invisible Pores to the Pancreas only, there to be separated from the Animal Spirits? Or who is not able to see that the thicker Juices prepared in the Glandules, can never pass thorough the thick Substance of the Nerves, but they must occasion Obstructions and Palsies. But more of these things l. 8. c. 1.

XXIX. By what has been said, it is apparent how far the Ancients, and

many of the Moderns were mistaken in their Opinions concerning the Use of the Sweet-bread; and among the rest Fernelius, who asserts that most of the superfluous and unprofitable Moistures are heaped up together in the Sweet-bread as in a Sink, and thence flow into the Guts. But in regard this Bowel it self is covered with a thicker Membrane, and all the parti∣cular Glandules are covered by them∣selves with a thin little Membrane, nor has it any other Vessels that enter into it, unless some very small Arteries and Veins, and very slender Nerves, there does not appear any way for the super∣fluous and excrementitious Moistures of other Parts to enter the Sweet-bread: Besides that there is no Reason why they should be forced more to this Part than to the Kidneys, Guts, or other evacuating Parts.

XXX. Seeing then it is apparent by what has bin said, what the Con∣stitution and Use of the Sweet-bread, and Sweet-bread Iuice is. We will only add two Things by way of Co∣rollary. 1. How that particular Juice is generated in the Sweet-bread? 2. How Great, and what sort of Effervescency it raises in the Guts.

XXXI As to the First, our mo∣dern* 1.229 Philosophers teach us, that the Blood contains in it all manner of Humors, Acid, Bitter, Salt, Sweet, Insipid, Thick, Thin, &c. And that, of these, certain particular Parts of the Body admit of such and such particularly, which by reason of cer∣tain Disposition of Magnitude and Figure, have an extraordinary Ana∣logy with their little Pores; but ex∣clude others by reason of their Dis∣proportion: And so by reason of that specific Constitution of the Pores, the cholerick Humors are most properly separated in the Liver; the Serous in the Reins, and the pancreatic Iuice in the Sweet-bread. But tho' it must be granted, that in the Nourishment of the singular Parts by reason of the cer∣tain and peculiar Disposition of the Pores in each, some Particles of the Blood stick to these, others better and more closely to those, till they are changed into their Substance: Yet this is not to be granted in the Generation of Humors, from whence at length, that general Nourishment, the Blood, proceeds. For in the Blood is contain∣ed a Matter, out of which Humors of all sorts may be form'd, as it is fermen∣ted, mingl'd, and reconcocted in these or those various Bowels, and several Parts, yet is there not in the Blood a∣ny Pancreatic, Splenetic, Choleric Juice, &c. (as in Wheat and Bread there is not really any Chylus, Choler, or Blood) but it is a Heterogeneous Mat∣ter containing such and such different Particles, which being after a peculiar manner mingled and concocted in the proper Vessels, become Humors Sweet, Bitter, Acid, &c. Not by reason of a∣ny Analogy with the Pores, but because of the specific Nature, Temper, and Structure of the specific Parts. And thus the matter is contained in the Earth, out of which, according to the Variety of Mixture and Concoction, a thousand sorts of Herbs, Trees, Flowers, Shrubs, and other things are generated: And thus in like manner several Forms of things are shap'd by the Hands of the Artificer: While one makes Statues, another Bricks, another earthen Ves∣sels of all sorts, tho' such things were never in the Earth before, nor could be said to have bin. The Blood there∣fore, which is sweet, flowing through the splenic Arterie into the Spleen, is there depriv'd of the greatest part of its Sweetness, and gains a subacid Quality somewhat saltish; not by reason of the Pores of the Spleen, but by reason of the natural subacid Quality of the Spleen, which it infuses in the Blood and certain other Humors that accompany it. Sweet Wine thus grows sowre, being poured into a Vinegar-Vessel; not by reason of the Pores of the Vessel, ha∣ving some kind of Analogie either be∣tween the Wine it self and the Particles of the Vinegar, or else because there was an Acidity in the Wine before, and its acid Particles were only mix'd with the Vinegar, and the sweet not mixed; but because the sowre Acidity of the Vinegar, contained in the Ves∣sel, might there fix the sweet sulphury Spirits of the Wine, and exalting the Salt and Acid above 'em, altogether de∣prive it of its Sweetness. For in that manner is Choler bred in the Liver: not that it was really praeexistent in the Blood, or for that the Pores of the Li∣ver have any Analogie, with the chole∣ric Particles of the Blood, were the occa∣sion of its being separated from it; but because the sweet Blood, flowing in great Quantity through the splenic Branch

to the Porta out of the mesaraic Veins, with a mixture of the splenetic Juice, becomes so altered, that it is fermented and concocted after a new Manner in the Liver (which proceeds from the peculiar Temper, Structure, and Fer∣ment prepared in it) by which means many Particles of it are made Choler, which were not so before that new Mix∣ture and Concoction: Concerning which see the following 15th. Chap. de Genera∣tione Bilis. And thus it is in the Pan∣creas, wherein some part of the Blood flowing into it through the small Ar∣teries, is changed into Sweet-bread Juice (the rest proceeding forward to its Fountain the Heart) not by reason of the Analogy of the Pores of the Sweet-bread with that Juice; but by rea∣son of the new Alteration which the Blood undergoes in it, occasioned by the particular Property or Nature of the Part, together with the new Mix∣ture and Concoction.

XXXII. As to the second we have* 1.230 affirm'd, that the pancreatic Iuice being mix'd with the Choler that flows to it, causes a new Effervescen∣cie in the Duodenum. Which is ap∣parent in the Dissection of living Dogs; in whom generally there is a spumous Humour boyling in the said Intestine, which is raised by the Aci∣dity of the pancreatic Iuice, and the mixture of Choler, abounding in Volatile and fixed Salt. Which is that very thing which Chymical Ope∣ration teaches us; viz. That acid Spi∣rits meeting with the lixivious Salt, al∣ways fall a boyling if there be nothing in∣termix'd to prevent the Operation. Now that in Choler there is contained a lixi∣vious Salt besides the oily sulphury Parts, is hence apparent, for that both may be separated from it by chymical Art. And then the Tast discovers the moderately sharp Acidity of the pan∣creatic Juice; and moreover for that being put into sweet Milk, it presently curdles it, even as Vinegar and other sharp Juices do. Lastly, for a farther Proof of that Effervescency occasioned by the mixture of Choler with the pan∣creatic Juice, we will add the twice re∣peated Experiment of D. Schuylius, Tract. de Vet. Medicin. The Abdomen of a live Dog, saith he, being opened, I ty'd the Duodenum with a String, not far from the Pylorus; and with another String a little below the Insertion of the pancreatic Ductus, and so left the Dog, having sow'd up the Abdomen again. Three Hours after, the Dog being still a∣live, and strong, for he had lost very lit∣tle Blood, the Abdomen being opened a∣gain, we found the Space between the two Ligat•…•…res so extreamly distended, that it would not yield to the Compression of the Fingers, but threaten'd a Rupture, nor did we find the Dogs Gall-bag less di∣stended. A most intense and burning Heat also scalded that intercepted Part of the Duodenum; in which, when I had made a little Wound with a Lancet, together with the Humors contained there∣in, great store of Wind brake out with the usual Noise and ratling of breaking Wind; from whence also, a sowre kind of Smell offended the Noses of the standers by; which when the Gut was more opened, none of the Spectators could endure. Which was a manifest Argument, that there had not only flow'd thither such a Quantity of Choler, and pancreatic Iuice, but that there was an Effervescency raised in 'em, not a mild and moderate one as in sound People, but extreamly vehement. For not only that part of the Intestin was full, but distended extraordinarily by a violent force and rushing of the Blood and Spirits. Nor was it probable that that part of the Duodenum could have bin so distended, nor that the Vapors, Exhalations, Humors, and Wind, could have bin dissipated with so great a Force, but by the Effervescency and Agitation of Particles quite contrary to those Humors. Some few days after I repeated the same Experiment, in the presence of several Students; and within two Hours or little more, that Portion of the Intestin swell'd very much, but did not burn so violent∣ly: But having opened that swell'd Por∣tion of the Intestin, which I had ty'd before, frothy Bubbles brake out with a loud noise, with which that Space of the Gut was distended. So that it is not for Impudence it self to raise any more Doubts concerning the Truth of this Ef∣fervescency.

CHAP. XI. Of the Mesenteric Milkie Vessels.

I. THE milkie Vessels conveigh∣ing the white Chylus from the Guts through the Mesentery, were first discovered in our Age;

And in the Yeor 1622, by Gaspar Asellius, Anatomist of Padua. I say in our Age, for that Hippocra∣tes and others had some obscure Knowledg of 'em. Galen also saw 'em and observ'd 'em; but he believ'd 'em to be Arteries, and sway'd by that Er∣ror, assirm'd that the Orifices of the Arteries reaching to the Intestines, re∣ceiv'd some small Quantity of Nourish∣ment, appears l. 4. de Off. Part. c. 17. & l. 3. de natural. Facult. c. 13. & lib. an Sang. in Art. content. c. 5.

II. Asellius was the first that gave* 1.231 em the Name of milkie Veins. But in regard they carry no Blood, and for that their Substance is far diffe∣rent from that of the Veins, as being much more transparent and thinner, we thought it more proper to call 'em milkie Vessels for better distincti∣ons Sake.

III. They are thin transparent* 1.232 Vessels covered with a single Tuni∣cle, scattered through the Mesentery, infinite in number, appointed for con∣veighing the Chylus.

IV. They take their Original from* 1.233 the Guts (the chiefest Part from the Iejunum and other small Guts, a∣mong whose Tunicles, with several small and slender ends of Roots they open into the inner Hollowness of the Intostines, their Orifices lying hid, under a spungy kind of Slime, into which the Chylus is squeezed by Com∣pression of the said Guts, and from whence it is received by the gaping Vessels.) From hence, with an oblique Passage, they ascend the Mesentery, by the way interwoven one among ano∣ther, and variously confused, and so proceed forward between and thorough many little Glandules, chiefly those that are placed at the Separation of these Vessels, toward the great or middlemost Glandule of the Mesen∣tery, into which a very great number enter, and a many cross over the Su∣perficies of it, and afterwards end at the great Receptacle of the Chylus, absconded under that great Glandule. But they never enter the Liver, as some with Waleus and 〈◊〉〈◊〉 endeavour to persuade us. Neither do any of 'em open into the Vena Porta, the Vena Ca∣va, or Mesenteric Vein; tho' Lindanus, fol∣lowing Waleus (l. 2. Physiolog. c. 5.) asserts that Mistake. Nor are they ever continued with the Mesaraic Veins, as being Slips of them, which was a Fig∣ment of Deusiagius. Nor ever were a∣ny seen to proceed from the Stomach.

V. Wharton observes in his Ade∣nographia,* 1.234 that those Vessels in their Entrance into the Glandules, or a little before, are divided and subdi∣vided into several little Branches, and so are quite obscur'd in the very Substance of the Glandules, and after they have so in a manner disappear'd in the very middle of the Glandules, presently new Strings of the said Ves∣sels spring out again, from the very Body of the said Glandules, which meeting together form a Trunck as be∣fore, and being carried toward the Beginning of the Mesentry, associates to it self other Branches of the same kind meeting with it, and is by them enlarged. Thus without doubt, those Vessels that enter the great Glandule, spring out of it again as from a new Root, and into the Receptacle of the Chylus.

VI. They have many Valves which* 1.235 admit the Entrance of the Chylus from the Guts, and hinder its Return, which tho' they cannot be easily de∣monstrated to the Sight, by reason of their extraordinary smallness, yet thus are they easily apprehended; that is to say, if these milkie Vessels are pressed toward the great Glandule, they presently grow empty: And Fre∣d•…•…ric R•…•…isch, a Physician formerly at the 〈◊〉〈◊〉, now at A•…•…sterdam, and a famous Dissecter, had publickly shewn 'em, and caused 'em to be engraven in his Plates: But if the same Com∣pressure be made from the Kernel to∣ward the Guts, the Chylus stops, neither can it be thrust forward. Which is the reason that in Dogs and other Crea∣tures well fed, that are dissected alive, or hang'd three hours after they have fed, these milke Vessels appear soon af∣ter very numerous and full of Juice in the Mesentery: But while the Guts are stirr'd and mov'd up and down by the Anatomists, together with the Mesen∣tery annexed for Demonstration sake, that milky Juice is squeezed out of 'em by that Motion, and flows to the Re∣ceptacle of the Chylus; and so these

small Vessels in the Mesentery vanish as it were from between your Fingers, and escape the Sight, when being empty'd, by reason of their thinness and transpa∣rency, as has bin already said, they can no longer be discern'd.

VII. The use of these milkie Vessels,* 1.236 is to conveigh not the Blood, but the Chylus from the Guts to the great Glandule of the Mesentery, and thence to the Receptacle of the Chyle. And this the whitish Colour of the contain'd Juice teaches us, which in a Creature kill'd three or four hours after feeding, is like the Cream of Milk, and disap∣pears when the Distribution of the Chy∣lus is at an end, nor does the Blood ever succeed into its Place, and so the Chylus being evacuated, these pellucid and small Cobweb-lawn Vessels, for want of that milkie Colour almost escape the Sight, which is the Reason why they have lavn undiscovered for so many Ages. I say almost, in regard that to these that look narrowly, they remain conspicuous in the form of little Fibres. Which deceiv'd Galen and some others, who took these little Fibres for Nerves or very small Arteries.

VIII. Now that the Chylus is* 1.237 carried through these Vessels from the Guts to the Receptacle, is appa∣rent from hence, for that if in a living Animal well fed, and sud∣dainly dissected three hours after, they be ty'd in the middle, there will happen a swelling between the Liga∣ture and the Gut, and a lankness in the other Part. And the same is also manifest from the Situation of the Valves, of which we have already spoken.

IX. The cause why the Chylus en∣ters* 1.238 the milkie Vessels, and is forced through those, is twofold. The one more feeble: a kind of rowling Con∣traction perform'd by the Fibres of the Guts themselves, which Con∣traction is conspicuous in Cats and Rabbets dissected alive. The other is stronger, powerfully assisting the for∣mer, an Impulse of the Muscles of the Abdomen mov'd upwards and downwards by the Act of Breathing: By which the Chylous, and consequent∣ly the thin and most spirituous Parts of the Nourishment concocted in the Sto∣mach, and fermented by the mixture of Choler, and the Pancreatic or Sweet∣bread Juice in the Guts, being separa∣ted from the grosser and more crude Mass, are forc'd out of the Guts into the gaping Orifices of the milkie Ves∣sels. Which Orifices, by reason of their extream Narrowness, will not however admit the grosser Parts; and hence it comes to pass, that being separated from the thin Chylous Parts, and forced to the thick Guts, they are exonerated through the Fundament as unprofitable Excre∣ments.

X. From what has bin said, it appears that these Chyle-bearing Ves∣sels, do not always conveigh the Chy∣lus (for they are often found emp∣ty) but only by Intervals: That is, so soon as the Chylus is perfected in the Stomach, and descends from thence to the Intestines.

XI. Deusingius in his Treatise de* 1.239 motu Chyli, believes that Expulsi∣on only is not sufficient; and there∣fore he adds to it Sucking or Attracti∣on, the necessity of which he endea∣vours to prove by these Reasons. If there be no Attraction (says he) but that all Motion must be referr'd to Impulsions, how shall we think that the Nourishment enters from the Mo∣ther into the Umbilical Veins, or by what Cause can it be forc'd thither? Or how does the Alimentary matter in an Egg reach to the Heart of the Chicken? Unless by Attraction, by means of the Motion of Rarefaction, and the Reciprocal Distension and Contraction of the Heart. But these Reasons are not of Force enough to de∣fend and establish the said Opinion. I answer therefore to both, That no Nourishment enters immediately from the Mother into the umbilical Veins; but that as well the Blood, as the milkie Juice, by the Impulse of the Mo∣ther is forced from the Womb only in∣to the Uterine Placenta (as shall be de∣monstrated more at large c. 30. of this Book) and thence by the Impulse which is caused by the umbilical Arteries from the Heart of the Birth toward the said Placenta, the Blood of the Mother that lies therein, being rarify'd and concocted by the arterious Blood of the Embryo, is forc'd into the umbili∣cal Vein, and the Chylus also is forc'd along into the Vasa Chylifera, that tend to the Concavity of the Amnion, or Membrane that enfolds the Birth. If

any one enquires how the rarify'd Juice enters the Embryo, before the Navel be grown to its just Magnitude, and how such a Motion of the Heart is caus'd by its Arteries? I answer, That that In∣gress is caus'd by a kind of sliding or slipping into it; but there is a great dif∣ference between attraction and slipping into a thing. For a hard, heavy, dry, or any other such kind of Substance is attracted, that cannot follow of it self, and sticks to the thing that draws it: but a soft and fluid thing slides or slips in; which finding a lower evacuated place, can neither contain it self, nor subsist in its place, but slides in of it self without attraction. As for Example; If the Wa∣ter next the Mill is cast upward by the Water-Mill, the subsequent Water can∣not be said to be drawn by the Mill, which is sufficiently distant from it, nor is any way joyn'd with it, but not being a∣ble to support it self, slides voluntarily down to the empty space. And in this manner the Liquation of the Chylus slips into the Embryo. For while the Heart continually makes Blood of the Matter that daily offers it self, and forces it a∣way from it, presently the Particles of the adjoyning Liquation or dissolv'd Nou∣rishment, slip of their own accords into the empty Pores, and supply the Vacuum. So that there is no attraction of the Nourishment in the Embryo. And the same is to be said of the Chicken in an Egg, into which the Alimentary Nou∣rishment enters, partly by slipping, part∣ly by the Impulse of the Heart of the Chicken.

CHAP. XII. Of the Ductus Chyliferus of the Breast, and the Receptacle of the Chyle.

I. THis Chyliferos Ductus of* 1.240 the Thorax, is a Vessel ex∣tended from the Region of the Loyns all the length of the Back-bone, to the Subclavial Vein, lying under the short Ribs; through which the Chylus being pour'd into it, out of the Milkie Mesenterics, together with the Lym∣pha or pellucid Water, is carried to the Subclavial Vein. But because the Passage of the Chylus through it is not continual, hence some, not without rea∣son, have thought that this Vessel ought to be more properly call'd Ductum Lym∣phaticum* 1.241 Magnum, the Great Lympha∣tic Chanel; for that as soon as the Chylus vanishes, it is found to be re-supply'd by the Lymphatic Water.

II. The first Discovery of this is a∣scribed* 1.242 to John Pecquet of Diep▪ John van Horn, a famous Anato∣mist of Leyden, both which disco∣ver'd it in the Years 1650. and 1652. neither being private to what the other had done; and in our Time publickly shew'd it, and caus'd it to be engraven in their Plates.

But altho' we are much beholding to 'em for their Diligence for restoring to the great Benefit of Physic, the know∣ledge of this Vessel, which had lain bu∣ry'd in darkness for almost a whole Age, through the negligence and unskilfulness of Anatomists, for rendring the know∣ledge of it more perfect, and making it apparent by publick demonstration; and all this without any Information before∣hand; yet are they not to assume to themselves the whole honour of the first Invention. For above a hundred years ago this very Passage was first observ'd and taken notice of in the Dissection of Horses, by the most famous Anatomist Bartholomew Eustachius, who Lib. de Ve∣na sine pari, Antigram. 13. writes thus: In those Creatures, (says he) speaking of Horses) from the great sinister Iugal Trunk, where the hinder seat of the Root of the Internal Iugular Vein appears, (he believes it to be the Subclavial, where the Jugular enters it above) a great Root springs forth, which, besides that it hath a Semicircular Orifice at its beginning, (clearly designing a Valve;) there is also another Root, full of a watery Humour; and not far from its Original, divided in∣to two parts, which meeting in one stock again that spreads no Branches, near the sinister side of the Vertebra's, penetrating the Diaphragma, is carried downward to∣ward the middle of the Loyns, where be∣coming broader, and embracing the great Artery, it concludes in an obscure ending, which I have not as yet so well▪ found out. From which words it is apparent, that this Passage was first discover'd and ob∣serv'd by Eustachius, but the use of it was not rightly understood. For he de∣scribes the Beginning of it from the Sub∣clavial Vein, where the End is: and the End in the Loyns where the Beginning is: So that we are beholding to Eusta∣chius for the first, but ruder detection;

but to Van Horn and Pecquet for the more accurate and perfect knowledge and demonstration of it.

III. But tho' there may be one con∣tinued Chanel from the Loyns to the Subclavial Vein, yet because it has a broad capaciousness at the beginning, like a little Bag, first receiving the Chylus out of the Mesenteric Vessels, it is excellently well distinguish'd into the Receptacle of the Chylus, and the Ductus Chyliferus.

IV. The Receptacle of the Chy∣lus* 1.243 is the Original of this Chanel, more capacious than the Chanel it self, and is a kind of a little Cell, seated in the Loyns, into which the Chylus first flows out of the Mesaraic Milkie Veins, and is collected into that as into a Common Receptacle, which was the reason that Pecquet first call'd this little Cell by the name of the Re∣ceptacle of the Chyle. Which ne∣vertheless Van Horn would rather have call'd by the name of the Little Milkie Bag. This Bartholinus calls the Milkie Lumbar Glandule, but erroneously, in regard the Substance of it has no Re∣semblance with the Substance of the Glandules. Walter Charleton calls it by the name of the Pecquetian Conceptacle, from the Discoverer. But in regard it receives as well the Lymphatic Water poured forth from the Glandules of the adjacent Parts, as the Chylus it self (for in a live Creature, if you squeeze out the Chylus with your Thumb, it is pre∣sently fill'd with Lymphatic Water) it may be no less properly call'd the Re∣ceptacle of the Lympha, as well as the Chylus, and so much the rather because the Chylus only flows into it at such and such Intervals, but the Lympha fills it continually.

V. The Seat of this Receptacle is* 1.244 under the Coeliac and Emulgent Veins, almost in the middle Region, between the Muscles Psoas, the Kidneys and the Renal Glandules, which, together with the Kidneys, it touches by im∣mediate Contract, so that there can hardly be separated with a Penknife certain little Branches running be∣tween. Yet in all Creatures it does not exactly keep the middle place of the Loyns, but in Beasts most commonly inclines toward the left side, near the hollow Vein descending, close to the left Kidney, seldom turns to the right side, or keeps directly in the midst of the Lum∣bal Muscles.

VI. In Brute Beasts this Vessel is* 1.245 generally single, with one Cavity; sometimes twofold; that is, one in each side. Sometimes one, with a little Membrane going between, as it were distinguish'd into two Cells. Moreover, sometimes three of these Vessels have been said to have been found, two in one, and one in the other side; which is more than we have ever met with as yet. Bartholinus has ob∣serv'd three in a Man; two of a bigger size, set one upon another, but con∣ioyn'd with mutual milkie little Branch∣es, seated between the Cava descending, and the Aorta Veins, in an Angle, which the Emulgents make meet with the Ve∣na C•…•…va. The third somewhat higher, and nearer to the Diaphragma, and lo∣sing it self in its Nervous beginning under the Appendix.

VII. The shape of this Receptacle is* 1.246 for the most part round, and some∣what compress'd; but many times O∣val.

VIII. It varies in Bigness: Fre∣quently* 1.247 it fills the space between the Lumbar Muscles, extending it self to the Kidneys and their Kernels. In Brutes we find it sometimes a little big∣ger, somewhat extended toward the lower parts.

IX. The inner Cavity, the Chyle* 1.248 being taken out, sometimes equals two Ioynts of the Fore-fingers, sometimes only one of those Ioynts; sometimes it will hardly admit the top of the Finger. In Men the Cavity is less than in Beasts; But the Substance of the little Bladder is much more solid, as being very thin, smooth and soft in Brutes, in Men thicker.

X. From the upper part of the Re∣ceptacle* 1.249 rises a Branch somewhat broad, call'd the Ductus Chiliferus of the Breast, or the Great Lympha∣tic, consisting of a thin and pellucid small Membrane, like the Receptacle, leaning upon the Back-bone about the middle below the great Artery, covered with the thin skin that covers the Ribs, and winding somewhat toward the right side of the Artery, where it is more conspicuous in its lower part, the Guts being remov'd to the right side,

with the Mesentery and the Dia∣phragma cut off. Hence proceeding farther upward under the Great Ar∣tery, about the fifth and sixth Verteber of the Breast, it turns a little without the Great Artery toward the left side, and so between the Intercostal Arte∣ries and Veins, ascends to the sinister Subclavial, into which it opens in the lower part or side, in that part where the sinister Iugular enters into it in the upper place. But at the entrance it does not open into it with a wide Gaping, but with six or seven little small Holes, covered over together with a little broad Valve in the inner Concavity of the Subclavial Vein, which Valve looks from the Shoulder towards the Vena Cava, where is appointed the Ingress of the Chylus and Lymphatic Iuice out of the Ductus Chyliferus into the Subclavial Vein; but the Return of the same Juice, and of the Blood also into the said Cha∣nel out of the Subclavial Vein, is pre∣vented.

XI. Sometimes two Branches, some∣what* 1.250 swelling, ascend from the Recep∣tacle, which nevertheless we find uni∣ted below in the middle under the Great Artery, as if there were but one Chanel only in the upper part.

XII. In Human Bodies sometimes,* 1.251 tho' very seldom, there are to be found two or three Receptacles of the Chylus, and from each arise particular Ductus's, which being united in their Progress, at length with one Ductus proceed to the left Subclavial Vein.

XIII. Their usual Insertion is into* 1.252 the left Subclavial Vein, as well in Men as in Beasts; but very rarely do Anatomists observe the Insertion into both Subclavial Veins. Whence I judge that it is scarce to be found in one Beast of an hundred. Thus Bar∣tholinus reports that he found the Inser∣tion of the Ductus Chyliferus into the left Subclavial Vein in the Dissections of six Men and several Beasts, and once only in a Dog its Ingress into the right Subclavi∣al also. Pecquet observ'd two Branches ascending upwards, joyn'd here and there together in the Mid-way, with several parallel little Branches, and meeting to∣gether at the third Verteber of the Breast, and then divided again, of which one entred the right, the other the left Sub∣clavial.

XIV. In the inner part, this Chanel* 1.253 has many Valves, preventing the Re∣turn of the Chylus and ascending Lymphatic Juice, sufficiently mani∣fest from hence, because the Chylus contain'd in it may be easily forc'd up∣ward by the Finger, but by no means downward; and for that the Ductus being bor'd thorough in any part, the Milkie Juice tending upward from the lower part, flows out; but in the upper part, above the little wound, stays with∣in the Valves, nor will descend to the wound made in the Chanel. Moreover, for that the Breath blown into it, through a small Pipe thrust into it; or Liquor injected into it through a Syringe, easi∣ly ascends upward, but cannot be forc'd downward.

XV. The Discovery of this Ductus* 1.254 Chyliferus belonging to the Breast, is not always equally to be made with the same easiness, for that because its Tunicle is pellucid, and lyes under the inner cloathing of the Ribs, it is not so easily obvious to the sight, espe∣cially if it be empty of Chyle, as fre∣quently it is some hours after Meals, or after Fasting: but it presently ap∣pears when it swells with a whitish Chylus. And therefore it presently shews it self in live Dogs, or strangled three or four hours after a full Meal. And then also the Ingress of the Milkie Mesenteric Veins into the Receptacle of the Chyle, from the great Glandule of the Mesentery, manifestly displays it self. Bartholinus writes that he readily found this Chanel with the Receptacle in the Bodies of two men newly hang'd, that had fed heartily before their deaths. In such as lye sick, and dye of the Disease, it is hard to be discover'd, as being emp∣ty of Chylus, for that sick People eat very little, especially when Death ap∣proaches, and that their Stomach makes hardly any Chylus out of the Nourish∣ment receiv'd. Nevertheless in the Year 1654. I found it in two Persons that dy'd through the Violence of the Dis∣ease, and shew'd it to some Students in Physick. First in April, in the Body of a Woman emaciated by a long Dis∣ease, but while she liv'd, very thirsty. In which Body, the next day after the Woman dy'd, I found it swell'd with Serous and Lymphatic Humour, and shew'd it to the Spectators that were pre∣sent. The second time was in May, in the Body of a Woman that dy'd of a

Pleurisie, in her right side, and in her life time, provok'd by continual thirst, had drank very much: and for that reason, both the Receptacle and this Ductus were very much swell'd with Se∣rous Humours. But in both Bodies I found the Situation of the Chanel to be such, as it us'd to be in Dogs, and that its Insertion was into the sinister Subcla∣vial. Only in the first Body the Re∣ceptacle of the Chylus was small, in the latter more large, as admitting into it the whole Joynt of the Thumb. After∣wards we have search'd for, and found this Ductus in several Human Bodies, tho' we have found some variety as to the Receptacle, as sometimes that there was but only one, sometimes that one distinguish'd or divided with a small Membrane in the middle; sometimes by reason of a double protuberancy, they seem'd to be two distinct Recepta∣cles: and sometimes that out of this one Ductus very seldom two arose; which afterwards clos'd together in one. But hitherto we never found in Men the In∣sertion of this Ductus into the right Subclavial, but always into the left.

XVI. But whether the Ductus Chyliferus sends any Branches to the Breasts and Womb, we shall inquire in our Discourse of the Womb and Teats.

While we were writing this, came* 1.255 forth in Print a small Dutch Treatise of Lewis de Bills, wherein he boasts to have found out a much further Propagation of the Lactiferous and Chyliferous Ves∣sels. For he writes, and gives you the draught of it in a Plate annexed, that the Ductus Chyliferus belonging to the Breast, makes a wreath'd Circle to the Division of the Jugular Veins (which afterwards some rather chuse to call the Labyrinth, others the Twisted Turning) and that two little Branches ran from it to the Glandules of the Teats, and two ascended further upwards to the Glan∣dules of the Neck. For my part, I have several times search'd for the Con∣tinuation of this Contorted Circle with the Chyliferous Duct of the Breast, but could never bring or follow this Chanel farther than the Subclavial Vein. Never∣theless, understanding by report of o∣thers, that the said Circle could not of∣ten be found, yet that it was sometimes discover'd by Steno and others, I order'd my Dissections of Dogs after another manner, that is, from the upper part of the Throat to the Sternum or Breast∣bone, and upon several diligent Inquisi∣tions after this Circle, sometimes I found it manifestly conspicuous, especially if it were blown up; for so it became most obvious to the View of the Spectators. At other times I found nothing else, but only a various Concourse of several Lymphatic Vessels, taking their Rise out of the Jugular Glandules, the Glan∣dules behind the Ears, and others adja∣cent thereto, and thence running out to several Veins, and then discharging it self into them. In the mean time I ob∣serv'd this also very accurately, That this Concourse of small Lymphatic Vessels, was not continu'd with the Chyliferous Duct of the Breast, nor receiv'd the Chy∣lus from, or carried it farther to the Glan∣dules that lye round it, as Lewis de Bills erroneously asserts; but quite the con∣trary, that that Lymphatic Juice was carried from the said Glandules to that Lymphatic Circle or various Concourse of several Vessels (I say various, because it is not always the same in all Bodies) and thence by means of several little Branches spreading farther, is emptied into several Veins, as the Glandules of the Armpits and Groins, by means of their Lymphatic Vessels, exonerate their Lymphatic Juice for the most part into the Milkie Vessels.

XVII. But tho' this Circle has ap∣pear'd to us now and then, and other times not at all; yet it is manifest that some could never discover it. For of late their came to our hands, the Anatome of the Bilsian Anatome, by Ia∣cob Henry Paulus Royal Professor in the Academy of Hoppenhaghen, wherein that Learned Person utterly explodes the said Bilsian Labyrinth, as a meer Fable, because he could never find it, but only some kind of Concourse of small Lym∣phatic Vessels, as aforesaid. His words are these, L. 6. of the said Book: The new Chylifer Chanel, says he, which D. John van Horn has first divulg'd, (he means the Pectoral Chanel) when it leaves the Breast, does not again ascend toward the Throat, or come to be taken notice of again: And the wreathed Receptacle of Bilsius, with its Windings, Turnings, Pipes, Branches and small Twigs, is nothing else but the Propagations and Excurrencies of the Lymphatic Iugular Vessels from the upper Glandules to the Glandules of the Armpits, and this on both sides. Wherein Nature sports her self after a wonderful manner, in the same manner as in the Veins of the Hands and Feet, and which have been obvious to me at several times in several varieties. But generally they kept this Order, that the Ductus proceeds alone by it self from the Oblong Glandule

of the Iaw, where it lyes between the hud∣dle of the Parotides, and Wharton's Glandules at the lower Seat of the Larynx, call'd Thyroidae, accompanied sometimes with three or four small Branches, which often close with another Branch, proceed∣ing from the lesser Glandules, which ad∣joyns to the Caro idal Artery, and the In∣ternal Iugular Vein, tho'▪ not always. This Ductus then forsaking the Gullet, over which it is spread, associates it self to the External Iugular Vein, and creeping un∣der it, sometimes crosses over, sometimes passes by two other Lymphatic Vessels, which proceeding from the Glandules of the Neck, in the middle of the Neck mutually embrace and bind each other, and are the occasion of many Branches, but no proper Circle, unless a man will fancy it so to be. And therefore that famous Circle is a meer La∣byrinth, and an inextricable Errour. But all those Propagations of Vessels, when they have once reach'd and pass'd the Branch of the External Iugular (to which frequently adjoyns a small Glandule also) proceeding from the Muscle that bends the Head or Mastoides, fall into a common Ductus like a Glass Viol, with a wide Belly, and as it were blown like a bladder, so that it might not improperly be call'd a Recepta∣cle by Bilsius. From which, at length, double Appendixes extend themselves, of which the one enters the Armpit Vein, near the Pipe of the rough Artery, in the place where the Carotidal Arteries arise from the Trunk: the other at a little distance enters the External Iugular: To which another Lymphatick Vessel (which hitherto Anato∣mists have deriv'd originally from the Ioynts) joyns it self from the Subaxillary Glandules. So that there happens a meet∣ing of several Insertions, that is below, of the Pectoral Ductus (an Error; for that never passes beyond the Subclavial Vein) from the side of the Axillary Vessels; a∣bove, of the Lymphatical Iugular Vessels, and Vessels arising out of the Thymus, which is one of the Iugular Glandules, but seldom any passing of one into ano∣ther.

XVIII. This Description the same Author, in a new Plate annex'd, ap∣parently demonstrates, and in the same seventh Chapter, adds the way to find out the Iugular Lymphatics.

But tho' the foresaid Doctor Paulus wittily enough derides Bilsius's Circle, yet is it not probable that Bilsius at his dissection should delude so many Learn∣ed Men that were present, into that Blind∣ness and Madness, as to testifie in a Pub∣lic Writing, that they saw such a Circle clearly by him demonstrated, which was not really there to be seen: Could they be all so blind? Besides, we our selves, and several others, have seen this Cir∣cle, tho' we could not always find it. Which we the rather believe may hap∣pen through the Sport of Nature, in re∣gard that in some Dogs the Circle is found to be perfect; in others only a disorderly Concourse of Lymphatic Vessels about the Throat. To conclude then, I assert this in the mean time, That this Circle is no Production of the Tho∣racical Ductus Chyliferus (as Bilsius er∣roneously avers and delineates) and that, as has been said, it receives no Chylus from it, nor carries any Chylus, but is a Chanel into which the Lymphatic Juice, being carried from the Circumjacent Glandules, and other parts, and to be conveigh'd into the neighbouring Veins, and other parts, is collected together.

Now whether the Chylus and Lym∣phatic Humour be one and the same thing, or whether distinct Juices. See Chap. 13. following.

XIX. The use of the Chyliferous* 1.256 or Great Lymphatic Pectoral Du∣ctus, is to conveigh the Lymphatic Iuice continually, and the Chylus at certain Intervals, being forc'd out of the Milkie Mesaraic Vessels, and at∣tenuated therein, by the mixture of the Lymphatic Iuice, to the Subclavial Vein, to the end the Lymphatic Iuice may prepare the Blood to cause an Ef∣fervescency in the heart, and that the Chylus mixed with the Venal Blood, and carried together with it through the Vena Cava to the Heart; may be chang'd by that into Blood.

XX. That the Chylus and Lym∣phatic* 1.257 Iuice ascends upward, not on∣ly the Situation of the Valves, but o∣cular observation in the very Dissecti∣on of Animals, sufficiently teach us, by means of a string ty'd about this Cha∣nel; for presently there will be a swel∣ling between the Knot and the Recep∣tacle, and a lankness above the Liga∣ture. Which Experiment proves suc∣cessful in a Dog newly hang'd, if when the Knot is ty'd, the Guts, together with the Mesentery, be lightly press'd by the hand, and so by that Compression the Chylus be squeez'd out of the Chyliferous Mesaraic Vessels into the Receptacle, and out of that into the Pectoral Du∣ctus.

XXI. Now that the Chylus enters the Subclavial Vein, together with the Lymphatic Iuice, and thence is carried to the Heart through the Vena Cava, besides that what has been already said concerning the Holes, is obvious to the sight; it is also appa∣rent from hence, for that a good quan∣tity of Milk being injected into the Du∣ctus Chyliferus, it is forthwith carried into the Subclavial Vein, hence into the Vena Cava and right Ventricle of the Heart, together with the Blood con∣tain'd in the Vena Cava, and may be seen to flow out at the Wound made in the Ventricle.

XXII. Now the Cause Impulsive that* 1.258 forces the Chylus, together with the Lymphatic Iuice, out of the Receptacle into this Ductus Pectoralis, and so for∣ward into the Subclavial Vein, is the same that forces it out of the Guts into the Milkie Mesaraic Vessels (of which in the preceding Chapter, that is to say, the Motion of the Muscles of the Abdomen, mov'd upward and down∣ward with the act of Respiration, which causes a soft and gentle. Impulsion of the Chylus through all the Milkie Ves∣sels, which impulse is conspicuously ma∣nifest from hence; for that if in a li∣ving Creature the Muscles of the Ab∣domen be open'd and dissected, and thereby their Motion be taken away, and then the Bowels of the lower Bel∣ly be gently squeez'd, presently we shall see the Milkie Iuice move forward, and croud through all the Milkie Ves∣sels; and tho' that Compression has no Operation upon the Pectoral Ductus, yet the Chylus forc'd into it by that Com∣pression out of the Receptacle, is by that forc'd upward, as one Wave pushes for∣ward another.

XXIII. Here now arises a Question,* 1.259 Whether the whole Chylus ascend through this Chanel to the Subclavial? and whether or no also a great part of it do not enter the Mesaraicks, and so ascend to the Liver? To which, we say, that the whole Chylus passes to the Subclavial Vein, except that which out of the Chyliferous Bag, by an extraor∣dinary Course sometimes, tho' very seldom flows to the Urine Bladder, (of which see more c. 18.) or else in Women with Child, according to its ordinary course flows to the Womb, (See c. 30.) or in Women that give suck to the Breasts; (See l. 2. c. 2.) But Regius is of another Opinion, believing that part of the Chylus is carried to the Spleen out of the Stomach through the Gastric Veins, and part through the Mesaraics to the Liver. Of which, the one is refuted by us in the preceding Chap. 7. and the o∣ther L. 7. c. 2. Deusingius smartly main∣tains, that the whole Chylus is not carri∣ed to the Subclavial through the Ductus Thoracicus, and confirms his Opinion by these Arguments. Exercit. de Chylificat. & Chylimotu.

• 1. Saith he, There is no congruous pro∣portion of Nature between the innumera∣ble Milkie Veins scattered through the Me∣sentery, and the Thoracic Ducts (which nevertheless are seldom more than one) conveighing the Chylus beyond the Axil∣lary Veins.
• 2. How shall the Thoracic Duct be able, without prejudice, to transmit such a quan∣tity of Chylus, carried through so many Milkie Vessels, to the Receptacle of the Chylus?
• 3. So very small a portion of the Chy∣lus as is carried through the Ductus Tho∣racicus to the Axillaries and Vena Cava, does not suffice to supply the continual waste of Blood, agitated and boyling through the whole Body, nor to repair the continu∣al wearing out of all the parts.
• 4. Seeing there is a great quantity of Chyle made, and but very little can pass through the streights of the Ductus Tho∣racicus, where shall the rest of the Chylus remain, which between every Meal is not able to pass through the small Thoracic Duct?
• 5. That same largest quantity of the Chylus, which in time of Breeding and giving Suck, is carried to the Womb and Dugs, whither is that carried, when the time of Breeding and giving Suck is over, when it is very probable that it cannot pass through the Ductus Thoracicus.
• 6. If the Ductus Thoracicus of a live Animal be quickly ty'd with a string, the motion of the Milkie Liquour in the Me∣sentery is not perceiv'd to be hindered.

And then he adds the Experiment of Lewis de Bills, by which he believes it to be obvious to sight.

These are the principal Arguments by which that Famous Artist endea∣vours to uphold his Opinion. Now let us examin of what weight they are, and whether they are so ponderous as they promise to be, to the end we may see whether Truth will give her voice for this acute Invention.

XXIV. I answer to the first and se∣cond, That there is not only a lesser but a greater Proportion between the Milkie Mesenteric Vessels, and one or two Thoracic Ducts, than there is between so many innumerable Veins that proceed from the Head, the Trunk, the Feet, the Arms, and some other Parts, and one Vena Ca∣va into which they all evacuate them∣selves. For if we consider so many Myriads of Veins, all of 'em may be thought to evacuate into the Vena Cava ten times as much Blood, as either the Vena Cava can contain, or disburthen from it self. And yet who does not see that it is done without any disorder; and why therefore should we wonder that the same should be conveniently done in the Milkie Vessels? Besides, we must consider that the flowing of the Chylus is not so continual; for many times there is a great distance between the two Meals, at what time there is no Chylus that is either made or flows (which is manifest to the Eye in Creatures hang'd a long time after they have fed, in which those Vessels are found empty of Chylus) and that Men who feed often, or else eat to excess, and therefore nei∣ther Concoct the Chylus over hastily, or in over great quantity, so that it cannot swiftly make its way through those Pas∣sages, such men are out of order, either because they do not digest the Food they have eaten sufficiently, or for that the quantity of the Chylus being too great, cannot pass quick enough through those Milkie Vessels, and therefore by the way, by reason of its longer stay, grows thick, sowre, coagulates, or is other∣wise corrupted, which breeds Obstructi∣ons, and impedes the Passage of the Chylus. Lastly, If we may argue from similitude, we must consider how much serous Humour passes in a little time through the narrow Ureters: which, if it may be done with so little trouble in those Vessels, why may not so much pass through the Milkie Vessels, and the Ductus Thoracicus?

XXV. To the third and fourth I answer, That the portion of the Chy∣lus that passes through the Ductus Thoracicus, is not so small in quanti∣ty, but very copious, as is obvious to the sight. If a living Dog be quickly open'd four or five hours after he has been well fed, and the Milkie Vessels in the middle of the Breast be cut away, and then the Intestines together with the Mesentery, be alternately and softly pressed by the hand, so they be relax'd (as in Respiration that Compressure is alternately made in healthy and living Creatures) then it will appear what a quantity of Chylus passes through that Vessel in the Breast. For in a short time a great quantity will flow forth into the hollowness of the Breast; neither shall any thing be discern'd to flow thither through any other Passages. Moreover, by the singular Observation of Walaeus, there is wasted every day in a healthy Plethoric Person, very near a pound of Blood. Is it impossible that in a whole days time a pound of Chylus should pass through the Milkie Vessels, to restore and supply that waste of Blood? In the space of half a quarter of an hour we have squeez'd out above two Ounces by the same way as is before express'd, how much therefore might pass in a whole day? certainly much more may be thought to pass than is wasted, supposing that the Chylus were continually present in the Guts, from whence being continually present, and still passing, proceeds the growth and increase of the Body, and the Plethory is caus'd. To this may be ad∣ded Lower's Experiment, cited by Gualter Needham, l. de Format. Foet. c. 1. who in a live Dog having made a hole in the right side of his Breast, tore the Receptacle of the Chylus with his Fin∣ger near the Diaphragma, and then sewing up the External Wound, pre∣serv'd the Dog alive: nevertheless, tho' the Dog were very well fed, within three days, he dy'd, as being starv'd to death: but then after he had opened the Body, the whole Chylus was found to be cram'd into that part of the Breast which was wounded, and the Veins being o∣pen'd, the blood was seen to be much thicker without any serous Humour, or Refreshment by any mixture of the Chylus.

XXVI. To the fifth I answer, That a great part of the Chylus that is wont to be carried through the Ductus Thoracicus to the Subclavial Vein, during the time of breeding and gi∣ving suck, is carried to the Womb and the Dugs, and because that for want of that Chylus, which is carried ano∣ther way, the Womans Body is not sufficiently nourish'd; hence those Wo∣men (if they be otherwise healthy) by the force of Nature, become more hun∣gry and greedy, that by eating and drinking that defect may be supply'd

and that in the mean time the Necessities of Nature may be fur∣nished, which requires Nourishment for the Embryo or Birth. But if through any Distemper of the Stomach, or of any other Parts, those Women are not so hungry, but eat little or less than they were wont to do, then they grow weak, by reason that the Chylus is carried ano∣ther way for the Nourishment of the Birth, and are emaciated almost to skin and bone, as we find by daily Experi∣ence.

XXVII. To the sixth, That when the Pectoral Chanel is ty'd, and the Creature lyes a dying, we see that the Milkie Mesentery, being partly press'd by the adjoyning Parts that lye upon 'em, and partly flagging one upon a∣nother, vanish by little and little. This is true; but not because the Chylus enters the Mesaraic Veins, but because it is pour'd forth into the Chyliferous Bag, and the Ductus Thoracicus, which are then dilated and extended more than is usual by the Chylus, and when they can hold no more, then it stays about the great Glandule of the Mesentery in the Milkie Mesaraics, and may be seen therein for a whole day and longer, which could not be, if the Chylus enter'd the Mesaraic Veins.

XXVIII. As for the Experiment of Lewis de Bills, which has seduc'd too unwarily several Learned Men in∣to another Opinion, what is to be thought of that, we shall tell you L. 7. c. 2.

Iohn Swammerdam in his Miracles of* 1.260 Nature p. 29. promising to himself that he will restore to the Liver the Office of Sanguification, or of making Blood, affirms, that the whole Chylus ascends through the Mesaraic Veins to the Li∣ver, and that what we see in the milkie Vessels is nothing else but a whitish lym∣phatic Juice. And this he proves from hence, for that as he says, we find the Blood as it were streaked and mixed with white Lines in the Mesaraics, sometimes as it were mark'd with Spots, and sometimes he found nothing but pure Chylus in 'em; and at length he adds these Words; In the Gate Vein, tho' not ty'd, we have often seen the Chy∣lus, and taken it out of the same; and we have seen many of the Mesaraics fill'd with Chylus. Now if any Person will suf∣fer himself to be persuaded into these things, let him, for me, I envy him not. But for my part I give more Credit to Asellius, Pecquet, Deusingius, Wharton, and several others, but espe∣cially to my own Eyes; than to such Writings as these: Unless Swammerdam can prove all that I have nam'd to have bin Purblind, and his own Party the only sharp-sighted People in the World. For they that have any Skill in Anato∣my are to be persuaded rather by De∣monstration than by Writing, as be such who have Eyes in their Heads and believe what they see. But in regard that Swammerdam promises to explain these things more at large in his Anatomicis Curiosis (so he calls his Treatise which is now in the Press) we will there ex∣pect a more curious Explanation, in the mean time we will stick to our former Opinion. But why the Blood is some∣times of a bad Colour in the Mesara∣ics we shall shew l. 7. c. 2. However Swammerdam, to confirm his own Opi∣nion, adds another Argument taken from that which never any one could yet demonstrate, that the Chylus is car∣ried out of the Guts into the milkie Veins of the first sort. But by the same Argument will I prove, that the Chylus is not carried into the Mesaraic Veins, because no Man could ever yet demonstrate its Ingress out of the Guts into those Veins. 'Tis true that Iohn Horn Epist. ad Rolphin. say's he can make it out by Demonstration, but was never yet so good as his Word; tho' if there be any at this day who pretend to do it, I wish they would ad∣mit me to be a Spectator, and then I may be able to judg of these Sayings. Again, No Man could ever yet demon∣strate to the Eye the manifest Passage of the Seed out of the Testicles through the different Vessels into the little se∣minary Bladder: Does this prove that the Seed is not conveighed through these Passages in living People, because it cannot be demonstrated in dead Bodys? The Seed conspicuous in the Parastatae or Vessels affixed to the back of the Testi∣cles, and the seminary Vessels, without any more manifest Demonstration, suf∣ficiently prove, that it ought to be con∣veighed out of the Testicles and Para∣statae through those Vessels, seeing that the Seed is made in no other Parts out of the Testicles, (as we shall shew c. 22.) and there are no other Passages to the seminary Vessels. In like manner when we see that the Chylus concocted in the Stomach flows no where else than to the Intestins, and is then conspicuous with its white Colour, which is apparent

from those white Chylous Stools in the Coeliac Fluxes or Loosness of the Belly, and is also seen to be no less white in the milkie mesenteric Vessels, the chy∣liferous Bagg, and the pectoral milkie Channel: Nay seeing moreover, that after long Famin the Guts being emp∣ty'd of the Chylus, it is no longer to be found in the said milkie Vessels, nor does any such white Liquor appear in any other Vessels; What Man in his Wits, by the Dictate of Reason only, will question whether the Chylus passes out of the Guts into the milkie mensen∣teric Vessels, and thence are pressed for∣ward to the rest of the milkie Vessels, tho' the first Entrance were never yet demonstrated to the Eye. The Defect of which Demonstration proceeds from hence, that there is such a pressing and moving forward of the Humors and Spi∣rits in the Bowels and other Parts which are entire and endu'd with Life, which no Art can perfectly demonstrate to the Eye in dead, mangl'd, and dissected Bodys. In the mean time how the Chy∣lus passes out of the Guts into the mil∣kie mesenteric Vessels, has bin already shewn in the foregoing Chapter. Lastly, what Swammerdam writes, That it is on∣ly a white lymphatic Juice which is carried through the milkie Vessels, let him, I beseech him, tell that Story to those that know no Difference between the Lympha and the Chylus, nor can distinguish between those Liquors or Juices.

We affirm and demonstrate that both Liquors pass through the said milkie Vessels, and why the milkie Liquor is mix'd with the lymphatic Juice, we teach a little before in the same Chapter, and in the following 17.

XXIX. Besides the Passage of the Chylus already mentioned, which many maintain to be through the Mesaraics to the Vena Porta, Rio∣lanus l. 2. Enchir. c. 18. Walaeus Epist. ad Barthol. & Maurocorda∣tus l. de mot. & us. Pulm. c. 13. write, That they have observed the Distribution of the Chylus to other Parts; and farther relate that they have taken notice that the milkie Vessels run forward to the very Liver, the Sweetbread, the Trunck of the Vena Cava, near the Emulgents, to the Vena Porta and Mesenteric, and some others. But all those learned Men were most apparently deceiv'd by the lymphatic Vessels, which they thought to be the milkie Vessels, as is apparent from the Text of the forecited Places, and from what shall be said in the following Chapter concerning the Rise and Distribution of the Lymphatics.

CHAP. XIII. Of the lymphatic Vessels of the Lympha.

I. THE lymphatic Vessels are thin* 1.261 and pellucid Vessels, conveigh∣ing the Lympha, which is a thin transparent, and clear Liquor, to the Vasa Chylifera and the Veins.

II. The first Discoverers of these* 1.262 were Thomas Bartholinus, and Olaus Rudbech, between whom there is a very great and sharp Dispute for the Honour of the first Discovery, while each one assumes to himself. These two in Years 1650 and 1651, searching after something else in dead Bodys, happen'd by chance into the Knowlege of these Vessels, perhaps nei∣ther of 'em knowing that the other had made the Discovery, so that both may contend unjustly to ascribe that Honour singly to themselves, which may be e∣qually due to both. However Glisson and Charleton affirm that these Vessels were discovered and shown at London by one Ioliff an English Man, before they were made known by Bartholinus. But Bartholine in his Spicilege, affirms upon his Word, that he knew that Io∣liff was not born before his Discovery, and that he never knew him either by Name or by Report.

III. Bartholine gives to these Ves∣sels* 1.263 the Names of Lymphatic, Wa∣tery, and Crystalline, and the Li∣quor therein contained he call'd by a very proper Name, Lympha, from its Clearness and crystalline Bright∣ness. Olaus Rudbech chooses rather to call 'em the watery Channels of the Liver and Glandules.

IV. They consist of clear and cob∣web-like* 1.264 Skin, out of which being brok'n, if the Water happen to flow out, they presently disappear, because their Tunicles are affixed to the Ves∣sels

and Membranes that lie under 'em, from which, by reason of their ex∣tream Thinness and Clearness, they cannot be distinguished.

V. Their Number is not to be* 1.265 numbered, and therefore not to be certainly determined.

VI. Their Colour is Transparent* 1.266 and Chrystalline: Their Shape Ob∣long, full of Holes, and hollow like the Veins, but very knotty: Their Breadth but very small.

VII. They have several Valves ad∣mitting* 1.267 the Lympha into the Vasa Chylifera, and several Veins, but hindering its Return. These Valves has Lewis de Bils most obstinately all a∣long deny'd, till they were shown him at the Hague, delineated in Plates, and made public in a printed Treatise by Frederic Ruysch, a most excellent Phy∣sician and Anatomist, who discovered 'em bent like a Crescent, fix'd to the Sides of the Vessels, and plac'd oppo∣site one to another, but much more numerous and thinner than any that are to be met with in the Veins. Which Valves may be also observ'd without any opening of the Vessels: For the Lym∣pha contain'd being press'd with the Finger contrary to its proper Motion, is every where stop'd by the Valves.

VIII. Lewis de Bills, who had* 1.268 call'd these Vessels before the Dew∣bearing-Channels, finding himself convinc'd by Dr. Ruisch as to the Valves, presently invented a kind of Evasion, and published it abroad to save his Reputation in a little Dis∣course Printed at Rotterdam 1668. He distinguishes between the lymphatic Iuice and the Dew; confessing the one to be carried to the Veins and milkie Vessels through the lymphatic Vessels, which are furnish'd with Valves, and affirms this to have bin found out by himself many Years before (tho' how truly, appears by Bartholinus's Answer de experiment. Bilsian. to Nich. Zas, Prin∣ted 1661. p. 11.) but this he says flows through particular little Pipes, con∣sisting of very small Fibres woven to∣gether, but furnish'd with no folding Shutters, seated among the Veins and Tunicles of the Arteries and lympha∣tic Vessels, like a kind of Moss, with a continued Course from the inner Parts to the exterior. An excellent Evasion indeed, whereby he endeavours to un∣derprop the Truth of his first Opinion by certain imaginary little Pipes. I call 'em Imaginary, because that as yet ne∣ver any, tho' but a young Practitioner in Anatomy, who does not easily ap∣prehend there can be no such Pipes in Nature, when the Tunicles of the Veins and Arterys so closely adhere and stick one to another, that they are hardly separable by any Art, and that there are no such intervening of Pipes or a∣ny other Passages to be seen, tho' Men had Lynx's Eyes, much less demonstra∣ble: Seeing that in regard of this same close sticking of the Tunicles, many sharp-sighted Anatomists have question∣ed, whether the Veins consist of one or two Tunicles. Which may be said of the lymphatic Vessels, which seem to consist of one single Tunic.

IX. There can be no certain Si∣tuation* 1.269 assigned to the lymphatic Vessels; in regard they are to be found in several Parts of the Body, and in the Trunck accompanying many Veins, especially the greater, and seem to be fasten'd to 'em by little Fibres. Many are also conspicuous in the Mid∣dle, and innumerable in the lower Bel∣ly, which do not accompany the big∣ger Veins. Many also are found in the Arms at the sides of the Brachial Vein; as also in the Thighs, sticking to the Iliac and Crural Veins. Some there are that hold that these Vessels are joyned to the Muscles, but I could never ob∣serve any in the Muscles themselves.

X. Concerning their Rise, there* 1.270 have bin formerly very great Dis∣putes; but by the singular Industry of modern Anatomists, those Mists are in a great Measure scattered. Nicholas Steno, a most accurate Dis∣secter, has laboured so diligently in search of their Rise, that at last l. de Musc. & gland. he pronounces for certain upon the Testimony of his own View, that there is an Inter∣course between all the lymphatic Vessels and the Glandules, especially such as are clustered together; which to that pur∣pose have a kind of Hollowness in the Middle, in which that Liquor is col∣lected out of the Body of the Glandule, as having a farther Journey to make through the lymphatic Vessels. Thus also Malpigius, lib. de hepat. writes, that all the lymphatic Vessels, in what Parts soever, still every where arise out of the clustered Glandules, which are found in a thousand Places of the Body, even those that proceed out of the very Liver.

Which he affirms, as having found those Glandules in the Hollow and Covering of the Liver of a Calf, where the bloody Vessels, and the Hepatic Chan∣nel enter it. In like manner Frederic Ruisch reports that he has in the Liver of a Man found, as it were, a Chain of Glandules; under the Gall-Bladder, which were hard but mix'd with no Blood.

XI. A great Number of these Ves∣sels go forth from the Liver, which is manifest to the Sight, tho' no Li∣gature be made use of, but if a Li∣gature be made use of between the Stomach and the Liver in that part of the Mesentry which knits the Li∣ver to the Ventricle and Guts, by which Ligature the Vena Portae, with the Bilarie shall be comprehended: Then presently (if the Experiment be try'd upon a living Creature) be∣tween the Ligature and the Liver, there will be a Swelling of these Ves∣sels, which will more increase if the Liver be gently pressed by the Hand. But they chiefly arise out of the hol∣low Part of the Liver, where the Glan∣dules aforesaid are principally seated, and some of 'em cross over the Vesi∣cle of the Gall. But whether or no, or how they run through the Substance it self of the Liver, that is not visible to the Eye, nor can it be as yet found out by any Instruments or any other Art. Glisson, in Anat. Hepat. searching back∣ward, found that they creep under the Capsula of the Vena Portae (which Cap∣sula is a Membrane from the Peritone∣um enfolding the Vena Portae, where it enters the Liver) and that there they hide themselves, nor could he observe any farther Progress; from the Con∣jecture it might be probable, that they follow the Distribution of the Capsula, and Bilarie Passage included in the same, and never enter the Substance of the Li∣ver. But to us it seems more likely, that arising out of the clustered Glan∣dules seated in the hollow part of the Liver, they presently break forth and shew themselves; and therefore that they neither follow the Course of the Capsula and Bilarie Passage, nor can be much dispers'd through the Substance of the Liver.

XII. How Pecquet has observed tho Egress of the lymphatic Vessels out of the Liver, he himself describes lib. de lact. Thorac. of the second Edition.

Behold, says he, having slit the Belly of a live Dog, I search for the lympha∣tic Passages. These being supported by the Trunck of the Vena▪ Portae, after the manner of Ivy, presently shew themselves▪ to the greedy Eyes of those that are called to the Sight. Then after many Encomi∣ums to the eternal Memory of Bartholine, seeing some running toward the Duode∣num, other toward the Center of the Me∣sentry, like so many Furrows, I bind'em apart from the Porta with several Strings. From the Liver all swelling upon their being ty'd, the other way languid, va∣nished from the sharpest Eye; then loosning the Knots, the Lympha pouring out of the Liver again, through various Springs most worthy to be observ'd, by the means of most evident Vehicles of Aqueducts, it seem'd to creep into the Sweetbread.

These things has Pecquet excellently well observ'd (tho' at that time he knew not the true Rise of those Ves∣sels from the clustered Glandules of the Liver) for the lymphatic Vessels issuing out of the Liver, through the Duplica∣ture of part of the Mesentery knitting the Liver and Guts to the Back, creep on as well above as below the Sides of the Vena Portae, and Ductus Choli∣dochus, the greatest part toward the Mesentery; and under the Vena Cava, near the fleshy Pancreas annexed to the Ventricle and Duodenum, several with little dispersed Branches pass over a certain Glandule lying under the Vena porta, and sticking to it in many Bodies (being sometimes one, sometimes two or three, seldom none at all) and thence together with many others, passing beyond that Glandule, throw themselves into the Receptacle of the Chylus.

XIII. Now lately that accurate Dissector Frederic Ruisch, has ob∣serv'd also several lymphatic Ves∣sels to proceed from the Spleen, not only from the Superficies, but from the inner Part of it, accompanying the splenic Arteries and Nerves, and sets down a singular Method by which it may be found out lib. de Valv. Lymph. And farther notes, that they are not equally so numerous in all Crea∣tures of the same Species; and that the Spleen of a Man has fewer than that of a Calf.

XIV. The same Ruisch, in the* 1.271 same Book, writes that he has also

seen lymphatic Vessels in the Lungs. Bartholin avers the same; and Olaus Rudbech has caused 'em to be engrav'd in Copper.

XV. Moreover in other Parts these Vessels arise from the cluster'd Glandules; which Glandules have this specific Virtue, to imbue the sal∣tish Particles separated from the Se∣rum, by Dissolution with a slight A∣cidity: For the Lympha contains in it somewhat of Acid. They that pro∣ceed* 1.272 from the Glandules of the Neck, empty themselves for the most part in∣to the Labyrinth (of which in the fore∣going Chapter) or Concourse of the lymphatic Vessels seated between the ju∣gular Veins. But those that proceed from the Axillary Glandules they de∣scend, and partly according to the length of the Vena Cava are carried to the Cystis of the Chylus; partly in the Mid-way, enter the Thoracick Chylife∣rous Duct, into which is opened a Branch proceeding from the Glandule of the Oeso∣phagus or Gullet. Those that rise out of the Groyns of the Loins, ascend, and running under the lower part of the chyliferous Receptacle, empty their Lympha into it, at the Entrance forti∣fy'd with double Folders, preventing the slipping of the milky Juice into 'em. Now that several lymphatic Ves∣sels empty themselves into the Recepta∣cle of the Chyle, is hence manifest, if up∣on the opening of a live Animal, you press the Receptacle with your Thumb, and so empty the Chylus out of it. For then it presently swells and is fill'd up again with the Lympha.

XVI. Nor do they open only into* 1.273 the Vasa Chylifera, but also into many Veins. And thus Nicholas Steno observ'd, that they gape into the Iugu∣lar and other Veins, and pour forth their Lympha. And Frederic Ruisch writes, that it appears to him by Liga∣ture, and the Structure of the Valves, that all the Conveiances of the Lympha, which are found in the Lungs, empty their Liquor into the Subclavial, Axil∣lary, and Iugular Veins. Whither they that arise out of the Joynts are carried is not yet discovered. Some there are who report they have seen clustered Glandules in the Joynts, from whence, no doubt, proceeds the Original of these Vessels; and as to their Insertion, there is no doubt but that they discharge themselves into the Vasa Chylifera, and into several Veins.

XVII. Lewis de Bils, out of his* 1.274 Ignorance of the Valves of the lym∣phatic Vessels, in his Epistolary Dis∣sertation publish'd An. 1659. describes a quite contrary Course of the Lym∣pha, through a Mistake most remote from Truth, and seems not at all to distinguish the Lympha from the chylous Iuice. And the Admirers of* 1.275 B•…•…s, choose rather to err with him, than to follow the Truth. Among the rest Nicholas Zas, in his Dutch Trea∣tise of the Dew of Animals; and others who have seen the Demonstrations of Bils, believe they have observed the Lympha to be the same thing with the chylous Juice contain'd in the milkie Vessels, and that it is carried out of the Bag, and other chyliferous Vessels to the Liver, and to the Glandules of the Groins, Armpits, Jaws, and others, and from them flows also to the Sperma∣tic parts, for to moisten and nourish 'em; but that it is not carried from the Glandules and Liver to the Vasa Chylife∣ra. Moreover that it only appears thinner and clearer, as being strain'd through the Glandules.

XVIII. But our Eyes, and Reason* 1.276 it self teaches us quite the Contrary.

XIX. Our Eysight thus: Because that besides myself, Bartholin, Van Horn, Pecquer, N. Steno and seve∣ral other Sharp-sighted Persons could never perceive any other Course of this Liquor, than from the Liver, and not from the Glandules of the Armpits, Loyns, and Groyns, (and the same Reason certainly will hold in other remoter Parts) toward many Veins, but chiefest of all to∣ward the Receptacle of the Chyle, and other Vasa Chylifera, to which it may be easily forc'd with the Fin∣ger; but cannot be mov'd from them toward the Glandules or Liver, by reason of the Obstruction of the Valves. Nay if in the Dissection of a living Crea∣ture, the Vessels be ty'd (which has bin often experimented by me and my Scholars) there will be a swelling be∣twen the Knot and the Glandules, but a lankness and emptiness toward the Vasa Chylifera. Nor is it of any moment what Regius offers, l. 4. Physic. c. 7. E∣dit. 1661. That upon the tying of a Knot, these lymphatic Vessels will swell beyond the Knot; because the Juice that was wont to be press'd into 'em, is not

pressed forward by reason of the Liga∣ture, and hence when they fall, by their falling they squeez the Juice contained in 'em backward toward the Ligature. But wherefore I pray, do they not squeez it forward, seeing that by the same Reason it might far more easily be done than backward? And if that Motion ought to be made forward, why does it not so fall out in Veins that are ty'd, as well as in the Mesenteric and Thoracick milkie Vessels? Wherefore do not these Vessels, when the farther Progtess of the contain'd juice is ob∣structed by the Ligature, by their Fall squeez the Juice backward toward the Ligature, but are almost quite empty beyond the Ligature? Have they not the same Right and Power, as the lym∣phatic Vessels? Wherefore also, when there is no Ligature, cannot the Lym∣pha be forc'd by the Finger from the chyliferous Bagg toward the Liver and Glandules of the Groyns and Armpits, tho' it may be easily for•…•…'d toward the Vasa Chyliferae▪ Why do the Valves ob∣struct this, more than that Motion of the Lympha? Certainly all these things plainly teach us that the Lympha does not move from, but to the chyliferous Bag, and the Vasa Chylifera. In the Liver, or a little below the Liver, the thing is so plainly manifest by the fore∣mentioned Ligature, that it is beyond the Contradiction of any Man that has Eyes; whenas there is no Chylus strain'd through the Liver, nor any Chylus that comes thither, whatever Regius, Bils, and other Asserters of antiquated Learn∣ing and erroneous Demonstrations, so vigorously maintain to the Contrary; as shall be more largely prov'd l. 7. c. 2. Now then if this happen thus in the Li∣ver, why shall the same thing seem such a wonder in the forementioned Glandules, in which the same thing is evident by Ligature? Why must the Glandules of the Groyns and Armpits make milkie Juice, and not rather ex∣tract it out of the Vasa Sanguifera them∣selves, in like manner as we see, that in the Ventricles of the Brain, the small Glandules adhering to the Choroïdal Plexure (so far as which no milkie or chylous Liquor penetrates) extract a se∣rous and lymphatic Liquor out of the Vessels to which they adjoyn; and dis∣charge it into the Cavities of the Ven∣tricles? However if any Follower or Admirer of Lemis de Bils, either will be pleased, or can at any time demon∣strate this thing otherwise to us, so as to convince us by seeing it with our Eyes, we shall rest satisfy'd, in the mean time we are bound to believe what we have hitherto seen and now asserted.

XX. Reason also gainsay's the fore∣said Opinion: For that the milkie Iuice of the chyliferous Receptacle, cannot immediately upon its slipping out of the Receptacle toward the Glan∣dules, supposing 'em to be the Glan∣dules of the Groyns, changed in∣to this pellucid and clear Lympha, and lose all its milkie Colour in a Moment. But this they say is done, because it is strain'd through the Glan∣dules lying in the Mid-way. But there are no Glandules where the Insertion of the lower lymphatic Vessels into the Re∣ceptacle of the Chylus shews it self. There are two indeed a little lower, but the various lymphatic Vessels pass by 'em at such a Distance that they do not so much as touch 'em; so that the Lympha con∣tained in them cannot attain its transpa∣rent Thinness from such a Straining. Others more studious of Novelty than Truth, that they may by some means or other underprop this new Opinion, assert with Regius, that the milkie Juice being infused with Violence into the Receptacle of the Chyle, becomes Fro∣thy and White, but by Cessa•…•…ion, the Froth ceasing, becomes watery, and flows to the Glandules, so coloured like Water: Like brown Ale, which being poured forcibly into the Glass, foams at the top with a white Froth, but let it stand a little, and the Froth turns a∣gain to watery Liquor. But how lame this Simile is, is every way apparent▪ For certainly there is not so much Vio∣lence in the Motion of the Chylus which should occasion the chylous Juice to be∣come white and frothy; for that natu∣ral Motion proceeds softly and gently, of which no more violent Motion can ever be felt by a Man, not discern'd by the Eye in Dissections of living Crea∣tures. So that if it presently loses its white Colour (which they call Spumo∣sity) descending from the chyliferous Bagg by a short way to the Loins and Glandules of the Groins, why does it retain it in a Channel four times as long, ascending to the subclavial Veins▪ Whence has it that whiteness in the Intestines and milkie Mesaraics before it is infused into the chyliferous Bagg with that feign'd Violence? Wherefore stan∣ding quiet in the milkie Vessels, or taken out in a Spoon, by that Sedate∣ness does it not lose its Colour, but still preserve its whiteness?

XXI. And thus, whether we con∣sider the Autopsia, viz. Ocular Con∣vincement, or Reason, the Lympha∣tic Vessels do not seem to have any o∣ther Original than from the cluster'd Glandules, and the Parts by us al∣ready mention'd. And further also, it manifestly appears that the Lympha is a Liquor very much distinct from the Chylus.

XXII. After the description of these* 1.277 Chanels or Vessels, let us examine in few words what sort of Liquor the Lympha contain'd in 'em is. For the Opinions of Learned Men are very va∣rious in this Matter; and every one ad∣vances his own as truest, or at least most probable.

XXIII. Bartholine de vas. Lymp.* 1.278 Brut. c. 6. writes that the Lympha is a simple Water, being the remainder of the Nourishment, as it is Elementary. This Martin Bocdan (who, Apol. 2. Memb. 11. Artic. 3. agrees with his Prae∣ceptor) asserts in Man to be diffus'd be∣tween the •…•…at Membrane and the Mus∣cles, but in other Creatures is contain'd under the Skin, and because it does not all transpire through the Skin, therefore that these Vessels were made for its E∣vacuation. But both the one, and the o∣ther, describe a very mean rise, substance, and use of this Lympha, when such a simple Water could never be sufficiently expell'd through the Pores only by the heat of the Parts, nor would there be such a necessity for it to be carried in∣ward through the Pores of the Body. If you say that this is requisite for the moist'ning of the Parts, certainly that Office is sufficiently perform'd by the moisture of the Meat and Drink as∣sum'd. Besides, a meer Water never settles into a Gelly, as this Lympha will do, if it stand a while in a Spoon.

XXIV. Glisson Anat. Hep. be∣lieves* 1.279 the Lympha to be a Liquor con∣sisting of the Vapors of the Blood, gather'd together like Dew, forc'd in∣to these Vessels, and flowing back with the Vehicle of the Nourishment brought through the Nerves. But this Opinion is confuted by these Reasons; 1. Because such Vapors may easily thicken into Dew or Water, but never like the Lym∣pha into a Gelly. 2. For that the Sup∣position of the Nutritive Juice being car∣ried through the Nerves, is false, and by us C. 16. of this Book, and L. 3. c. 11. and L. 8. c. 1. sufficiently refuted. 3. Be∣cause the Vapours of the Blood, partly invisibly through the Pores, and visibly by Sweat, partly by the Expiration of the Lungs, or else condens'd, may be emptied with the Urine, Stool, Weep∣ing, &c. so that if that be all, there is nothing that compells 'em to enter those Vessels.

XXV. Backius does not seem to* 1.280 differ much from Glisson, who seems to deduce those Vapours of the Blood out of the Veins into these Vessels; for he affirms the Lymphatic Vessels to be Veins arising from the veiny Trunk. But in regard there is a vast variety of Substance between them and the Veins, and for that no such Original appears, nor not so much as the least shadow of it, about the veiny Trunk, or Vena Ca∣va; seeing also they are never known to arise from any other Veins, but are some∣times inserted into 'em out of the clu∣ster'd Glandules, 'tis to be thought that this Opinion is far from the Truth.

XXVI. George Seger, Dissert. Anat. Artic. 2. pronounces the Lym∣pha to be the Animal Spirits, or to be made out of 'em, which after they are distributed into all Parts through the Nerves, are partly there consum'd and dissipated, and partly congeal into this Water.

With Seger agrees Francis de le Boe Sylvius, Disputat. Med. 4. Thes. 31. and more at large Disput. 8. Thes. 40, 41. But that this Invention of Seger is more Ingenious than True, is apparent from hence, for that the Animal Spirits are such thin Vapours, that there are not the like in the whole Body (for they pe∣netrate with an extraordinary swiftness the narrowest and most invisible Pores of the Nerves) whence it is very likely that they being pour'd forth into the Sub∣stance of the hotter Parts, presently do their duty with an extraordinary swift∣ness; and for the remaining part, by reason of its extream tenuity and vola∣tility, is far more swiftly dissipated by the heat of the Parts than any other Va∣pours, and much less congeal into Li∣quor, than any other extravasated Va∣pours, unless it happen in some colder Parts, as in the Testicles, of which we shall treat c. 28. And how suddenly they are dissipated, is apparent from that weariness which follows violent Exercise, or in the suddain Laxation of the con∣tracted Muscles. Moreover, should these Spirits congeal into this Liquor in the Parts to which they flow down, hot∣ter

than the Brain, certainly they would much sooner, and more easily, congeal in the Brain and Marrow of the Back, by reason of the greater degree of Cold in both, that is by reason of the Heat which is less in them than in other Parts: but they are never seen to be condens'd in them, neither can such a sort of Liquor penetrate through the Nerves; and if in them they are not condens'd into Li∣quor, much less in the Parts hotter than the Brain, the heat of which would ea∣sily dissipate such thin Vapours. Lastly, a most copious quantity of Lympha flows from the Liver and its Glandules, to which nevertheless there are so few, and such slender Nerves that reach, that some Anatomists question their ingress into 'em. Also in the Ventricles of the Brain, from the Choroidal Plexure▪ a copious quantity of Lympha, somewhat thicker, is separated by the small Glan∣dules lying between it, thence design'd to flow forth through the Papillary Pro∣cesses, and yet there are no Nerves, that enter that Plexure. From whence it is apparent that the Lympha is not made of Animal Spirits condens'd.

XXVII. Bernard Swalve L. de* 1.281 Pancreat. p. 76. believes the Lympha to be compos'd of the Remainder of the Animal Spirits that have lost their Volatility, with somewhat of an Acid Spirit mix'd with it out of the Glan∣dules, and so entring the Lymphatic Vessels. The greatest part of the Lym∣pha, says he, is beholding to the Animal Spirit, the lesser to the Acid Spirit. But what has been already said destroys this Opinion; as also this, that the Lympha is continually mov'd through innumerable hollow Vessels in great quantity, whereas so great a quantity of Animal Spirits can never pass in so great a quantity through the invisible Pores of the Nerves, and cannot be carried to the making of the Lympha. Moreover, for that a great quantity of Lympha breaks thorough several Vessels; into which nevertheless, as has been said, very few Animal Spirits can be carried, and that through very few and most slender Nerves. Add to this, that the Acid Spirit of the Glandules has a coagulating Power, and therefore would be a strange obstruction to the thinness of the Liver. Moreover, Swalve himself Eod. lib. p. 88. and 89. most eagerly maintains, that nothing, not so much as the thinnest of Liquors can be carried through the Pores of the Nerves, and therefore much less such a quantity of Spirits, out of which a part of such a copious Lympha must be made.

XXVIII. N. Zas above-cited, writes,* 1.282 That the Lympha, which he calls Dew, is an Alimentary Iuice, by which the Nerves, the Membranes, Tendons, also the Tunicles of the Veins and Ar∣teries, and all the Spermatics are nou∣rish'd, increas'd in growth and en∣larg'd. But among all the foregoing Opinions, there is none that carries with it less probability than this; which is ut∣terly destroy'd by what we have written L. 2. c. 12. where we prove at large that all the Parts are nourish'd by the Blood, and not by any other Humours. But Lewis de Bills, from whence Zas draws all his main Fundamentals, finding that Zas was too short in the defence of his Argument, has found out another In∣vention; for he distinguishes between Dew and Lympha, and says that the Dew serves for the Uses by Zas assign'd, but not the Lympha: He also ascribes diffe∣rent Passages to each of them, by which they flow to their parts; of which passa∣ges or ways I have lately treated, and sufficiently demonstrated the vanity of this Invention.

Seeing then that most Learned Men, and Studious Assertors of the Commonwealth of Physic, did not discern the true Original of this Lympha, and hardly seem to have reach'd the use of it, I will not be afraid to venture my own Opinion concerning this Matter.* 1.283

XXIX. I take the Lympha to be a fermentaceous Liquor, separated from the serous part of the Blood in the cluster'd Glandules, yet not simple, but mingl'd with much volatile and liquid Salt, and impregnated with some few sulphury Particles, which by reason of the thinness of its Parts en∣ters these Vessels, and is carried through them, partly to the Vafa Chy∣lifera, partly to many Veins. To THOSE, that in them it may by its mixture make the Chylus thinner and more easie, and more apt to make an easie Dilatation in the Heart. To THESE, to the end that being mingl'd with the Venal Blood, not at present so thin, it may prepare it to a quick Dilatation in the Heart: for in both respects the Mixture of it is very necessary. For the Chylus of it self is somewhat sweetish, and some∣what fatty, which shews the predomi∣nancy of the sulphury Juice, not as yet

become sufficiently spiritous. And hence, by reason of the viscid and thick Parti∣cles, seeing that if it came alone to the Heart, it is unapt for Dilatation, there is a necessity, that by the way this Liquor should be thin, saltish, sowrish, and en∣du'd with a kind of fermentaceous Qua∣lity, to attenuate its viscousness, and pre∣pare it for Fermentation. For as Mi∣neral Sulphur, by reason of its viscous Particles, by it self slowly, and by de∣grees, but by the mixture of the Salt-Peter, cutting those Particles, kindles at the very touch of Fire; so also the sul∣phury Particles of the Chylus, if other saltish and thin Particles were not mix'd with it to a just proportion, would be slowly, and not suddenly dilated, and become spiritous in the Heart.

XXX. To which purpose aforesaid the Pancreatic Iuice does also in some measure contribute, being mix'd with the Chylus in the Duodenum, which is a kind of a stronger and sharper Lympha, and indu'd with a more vigorous fermentaceous Quality. And therefore it is that this Lympha being carried with the Chylus to the Heart, ren∣ders it more easily diffusive, and fit to be alter'd into spiritous Blood. As in Gunpowder the Mineral Sulphur mix'd with the Salt-peter and Coals, presently takes fire. But the Venal Blood, having lost a great part of its Spirits in the nourishment of the Parts, and the length of its Course, has need of some mix∣ture of the Lympha to facilitate its fusion in the Heart. But because it is much thinner than the Chylus, and still mix'd with many Spirits: Hence it is that it requires the less quantity of Lympha, and that's the reason that fewer Lymphatic Vessels open into the Veins, but a vast number into the Milkie Vessels.

XXXI. Now because this Lympha* 1.284 is separated from the serous part of the Blood, the Question is whether it be not the Serum, or a Liquor different from it? To which I answer, That it is not the Serum, but a particular thin Liquor, extracted out of the Se∣rous part of the Blood. For in this serous Humour, besides the watery Par∣ticles, are contained other briny Parti∣cles in good quantity, and some sulphury Particles. The salt Particles are appa∣rent from the briny taste of Tears, Sweat, and Urine; the sulphury from hence, that stale Urine being heated, is easily fir'd by the touch of the least flame. Then again in these there are other more vis∣cous, more crude and fix'd Parts, as are often to be discern'd in Urine; others more thin and spiritous, which by rea∣son of their extraordinary thinness, to∣gether with the thin watery part of the Serum in which they abide, being separa∣ted from the thicker Particles on the cluster'd Glandules, easily enter those narrow Orifices of the Lymphatic Ves∣sels, proceeding from those Glandules, (from whence the thicker Particles are excluded by reason of their thickness) and through these are carried to the Va∣sa Chylifera and several Veins.

XXXII. The difference between the* 1.285 Lympha and the Serum, is hence made plain; for that the Lympha being taken out in a spoon, not only held to the fire for the thinner Particles to exhale (which is the direction of Rolfincius) but being cool'd of it self, without any Exhalation before the fire, thickens into a Gelly; whereas the Serum will neither thicken before the fire, nor without fire. For that the Salt of the Lympha, which seems to contain in it somewhat of sowrish, being reduc'd to an extraordinary thinness in its most thin watery Particles, and im∣pregnated with some sulphury Particles, while any heat remains in it, is very fluid; but being condens'd by the Cold, is not fixed into hard and salt Crystals; but together with the sulphury Parts mix'd with it, by reason of their fatty viscousness, by which the hardness of the salt Particles is soften'd, it congeals into a Gelly, which again dissolves into a most thin Liquor by the heat of the fire. Whereas on the contrary, the cru∣der Particles of the Serum condens'd by the Cold, will never dissolve through the heat of the fire (which is apparent in Urine) but into crude and clammy Strings, and many of 'em retain a Stony and Tartarous Form, and will never re∣turn to their former thinness.

XXXIII. Now out of what parts the Lympha proceeds, which is to be separated in the Glandules, and de∣riv'd into the Lymphatic Vessels, is by many question'd, Glisson believes it proceeds from the Nerves; Bar∣tholine from the Arteries. The first is absurd: Because the invisible Pores of the Nerves cannot give passage to such a visible and copious Liquor, with∣out a Palsie of the Parts, and an ex∣tream Relaxation of the Nerves with

continual Moisture. The latter is more probable, by reason of the quan∣tity of the Lympha, which cannot be so copiously strain'd out of any Vessels as out of the Arteries, in regard that all the Glandules receive some ends of the Arteries. And so from that Arte∣rious Blood forc'd into the Glandules, by reason of their Specific Structure, the Lympha seems to be separated in the same manner almost as the Serum is separated from the Blood in the Kidneys: and from the little Arteries of the Choroi∣dal Plexure the lymyid serous Liquor is separated from the same Blood by the Glandules lying between, and deposited in the Cavities of the Ventricles of the Brain, from thence to be evacuated through the Papillary Processes, or Ex∣tremities of the Olfactory Nerves. But in the Liver, which receives very few Arteries, but sends forth many Lympha∣tic Vessels, and pours forth a copious quantity of Lympha out of its Glandules, this Lympha cannot be there so copiously separated and pour'd forth out of so few Arteries chiefly creeping along the Ex∣terior Membrane, but is rather separated from the Blood brought through the Vena Portae (which here performs the office of an Artery) by the Glandules that adhere to the hollow part of it.

XXXIV. But what it is that presses* 1.286 forth the Lympha out of the Glan∣dules of the Liver, Spleen, and other parts, and thrusts it farther when once enter'd the Lymphatic Vessels, is apparent from what has been said concerning the thrusting forward of the Chylus, c. 11. & 12. For the impul∣sive Cause is the same, that is to say the Motion and Pressure, partly of the low∣er part of the Belly by the Muscles of the Abdomen mov'd upward and down∣ward; partly by the Respiration of the Lungs. That which proceeds from the Joynts, is mov'd by the motion of the Muscles of those Parts; as we find by the motion of the Jaws and the Tongue a great quantity of Spittle flow into the Mouth, which Spittle is a kind of Lym∣phatic Iuice, but somewhat thicker, whereas when a man sits motionless, or lyes asleep, his Spittle is nothing so plen∣tiful. For by the Compressure of these Parts, as well the Glandules therein con∣ceal'd, as also the Lymphatic Vessels, are press'd, not only by the Muscles, but also by the incumbent flat Bowels, by which means the contain'd Liquor is squeez'd and thrust forward out of those Ves∣sels.

XXXV. Charleton, Oeconom. Animal. writes that the Motion of the Lympha through its Chanels is very slow. But Bartholine in Spielleg▪ confutes that Opinion, and proves the contrary. For my part, I believe the Lympha to be mov'd sometimes slower, sometimes swifter, according to the more vehement or remiss motion of the Parts where the cluster'd Glandules and the Lymphatic Vessels lye, as happens in the Salival Vessels under the Tongue, which proceed from cluster'd Glandules.

XXXVI. Observe by the way con∣cerning* 1.287 the Lymphatick Vessels lying hid in the lower Belly, that if they be broken up by any accident, (for they are very tender) then there happens to be a serous Liquor pour'd forth into the hollow of the Abdomen, the in∣crease of which at length insensibly pro∣duces that sort of Dropsie, call'd Asci∣tes; tho' it may also proceed from o∣ther Causes.

In the Year 1658▪ we dissected a young* 1.288 Woman of four and twenty years of Age, which for seventeen years had la∣bour'd under that Distemper call'd As∣cites, and at length dy'd of it. In whom I did not perceive the least desect of her Bowels, only that some of the Lym∣phatic Vessels were broken, which was the Cause of the Distemper; for in her Childhood she had been cruelly us'd by her Parents, who were wont to kick and thump her; and those blows occasion'd the breaking of her Lymphatic Vessels. Which Suspicion, the Humours that were gathered together in the Abdomen, did not a little confirm. For they ap∣pear'd somewhat coagulated in the Bo∣dy, when it was cold; tho' it was not come to that consistency of a Gelly, as is usually seen in the Lympha when ta∣ken out of the Lymphatic Vessels in a Spoon. However, the reason why she had liv'd so long in Misery, was the soundness of her Bowels, and for that by reason of the youthful heat of her Body, much of the Serous Moisture insensibly flowing into the Concavity of the Abdo∣men, was every day consum'd.

XXXVII. These Vessels being bro∣ken,* 1.289 sometimes also it happens that the Lymphatic Liquor does not come to be pour'd forth into the Cavity of the Abdomen, but flows out between the

neighbouring Membranes, and that occasions the production of those watry Bladders, call'd Hydatides, with which the Liver sometimes within, sometimes without, and sometimes al∣so the Mesentery, and other parts in the Abdomen are seen to abound. A great number of these Bladders (some as big as a Pigeons Egg, others as a Hen Egg, and many less) William Stra∣ten, at that time Physic and Anatomy Prosessor in our Academy, afterwards principal Physician to the Prince of O∣range, shew'd us in the hollow part of the Liver of a Thief that was hang'd, Febr. 1647. We have also shew'd 'em growing sometimes in the Mesentery be∣fore the Students in Physic at our Ho∣spital: and there also we have seen Livers, which withoutside have been cover'd with little Bladders full of Lympid Wa∣ter, of which number, some having been lately broken, had insus'd a Serous Li∣quor into the Cavity of the Abdomen, and by that means had occasion'd an Ascites. Hence I concluded that the Dropsie, call'd Ascites, is never genera∣ted without some Solution of the Conti∣nuum of the inner Parts of the Abdomen, whatever the Cause of it may be, and I thought their Opinion to be rejected, that this Disease is begot by the conden∣sation of the Vapours exhaling out of the Internal Parts into Water, when that Exhalation in some Men happens to be continual, and yet very few come to be troubled with the Ascites. Volker Coiter, Obser. Chirurg. Musc. p. 117. writes that he himself found in the Bo∣dy of a Phthisical and Dropsical Man, the Bowels of the lower Belly wasted, and emptied of all their Moisture; but little Bladders, some bigger, some less, adhering every where to the Mesentery, Peritonaeum, Intestines, Spleen, Liver, and all the Bowels, and all those little Bladders full of Water. The same Case is cited by Cordaeus. Com. 5. ad Hipp. de Morb. Mul.

XXXVIII. Now there may be several Causes for the breaking of these Vessels: But besides violent and external Acci∣dents, the most frequent Cause is, either Corrosion by sharp Humours, or else their Obstruction and Compression. And for this Reason the Ascites happens to Gluttons and great Drinkers, that e∣very day stuff and swill their Guts, who from the Crudities hence bred, either heap together a great quantity of sharp Humours in the Body, or else bring a weakness and obstructions upon the Bow∣els, by which means these little Vessels are either corroded, or else compress'd and straiten'd, that they cannot carry and discharge their Lymphatic Humour as they were wont to do, which there∣fore flowing out of the Lymphatio Ves∣sels, either causes little Membranes a∣mong the Bladders; or else the covering Membranes being broken, it slides into the Concavity of the Abdomen.

CHAP. XIV. Of the Liver.

I. THe Liver 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, or Jecur, is a remarkable Bowel seated in the right Hypochondrion under the Diaphragma or Midriff, of a vast bigness, round and smooth in the con∣vex or gibbous part, but concave in the lower part, where it rests upon the right side of the Stomach.

II. In Dogs and many other Beasts* 1.290 it is divided into several Lobes, but in Man it is contiguous, swelling into a little Lobe in the lower simous, saddle or flat part. It is rarely divided into three Lobes, which Iames Sylvi•…•…s in I∣sagoge, reports to have seen.

III. The bigness of the Liver is not* 1.291 the same in all Creatures, but accord∣ing to the proportion of Bodies, it is larger in Man than in other Creatures, and the natural and ordinary bigness is such, that it descends three or four fingers below the Bastard Ribs, and extends it self somewhat beyond the pointed Cartilage of the Breast. An∣drew Laurentius writes, that in cowardly People, great Drinkers and Gluttons, the Liver is thought to be bigger. Which Rule however, 'tis very probable, is ly∣able to many Exceptions. In a preter∣natural Constitution it deviates from its ordinary Magnitude, as well in excess as defect. In the Year 1660. I dissected a Body wherein the Liver was of that enormous Magnitude, that it caus'd Ad∣miration in all the Spectators; for below it reached down to the Groyns, and ex∣tended it self from the right side to the Spleen, and so possessed the chiefest part of the whole lower Belly. But tho' to the outward view and touch, it seem'd

to be of a healthy Colour and sound Substance, yet we found in the middle of it a large hollowness, from whence to the amazement of all the Beholders, we took out eleven Market pounds of Mat∣ter, white, well-concocted, and without any ill smell. Other monstrous large Livers are describ'd by Spigelius Anat. l. 8. c. 12. Riolanus Anthrop. l. 2. c. 21. Bartholine Obs. cent. 1. hist. 85. and by se∣veral others.

IV. Less frequently is the Liver defective for want of its due proporti∣on. And yet we find an Example of that too in Riolanus, lib. citat. who writes that at Paris, in a certain Body, was found a Liver that was no bigger than a Kidney; and thence he observes out of Avicen, that the smalness of the Liver is always noxious, but not the bigness.

How you may guess at the largeness of the Liver by the bigness of the fingers, See l. 4. c. 1.

V. The Substance of it is soft and* 1.292 ruddy, like congeal'd Blood, the firm∣ness of which appears nevertheless when the Liver is boyl'd. There lye hid in it many Kernels, out of which the Lym∣phatic Vessels break forth.

VI. Malpigius, who has examin'd the substance and inner parts of the Liver, most accurately by his Micro∣scopes, l. de hep. c. 2. has observ'd many things unheard of, and hitherto altogether undiscover'd. 1. That the substance of the Liver in a Man con∣sists of little Lobes, which shew forth a heap of Clusters, and are cloath'd with their own enfolding Membrane, and strengthen'd by membranous Knots continued athwart, so that there may be observ'd middle spaces, and little small chinks, between the sides of the Lobes. 2. That the whole Mass of the Liver consists of glandulous Balls and several Roots of Vessels; and hence, that they may all cooperate for the common good, there is a necessity of an intercourse between the Vessels and these Glandules. 3. That the Branches of the Vessels of the Porta, Vena Cava, and Porus Biliarius in an equal number through all the small Lobes, and that the Roots of the Ve∣na Portae supply'd the place of Arte∣ries, and that there is such a Corre∣spondence between the Porta and the Porus Biliarius, that both their little Branches are closely contain'd under the same Covering. 4. That the Roots of the said Vessels are not joyn'd toge∣ther by way of Anastomo•…•…is, but that the glandulous Balls, constituting the chief substance of the Liver, are in the middle between the Vessels that bring and carry, by means whereof those that carry infuse their liquor into those that bring. From which Observations he concludes that the Liver is a conglomera∣ted or cluster'd glandule separating the Choler, and this (Ibid. cap. 3.) he endea∣vours to prove by several Reasons. And because this is proper to conglomerated Glandules, that besides the Arteries, Veins, and Nerves, they enjoy their own proper emptying Vessel (as is apparent in the Parotides, Sweetbread, and others) which is dispers'd through their Sub∣stance, and extracting and carrying off the design'd Humour; he asserts this Ves∣sel in the Liver to be the Porus Biliarius with the Gall Bag. Most certainly these new Observations of the famous Malpigius dispel many Hepatic Obscurities, and lighten us to the inmost knowledge of the Liver. For formerly there was no que∣stion made, but Choler was generated in the Liver; but how it came to be se∣parated from the Blood, was not known: but now by the Observations of this quick-sighted Artist, it appears to be done by the small Kernels and glandulous* 1.293 Balls lying up and down *.

VII. But tho' Malpigius, by reason* 1.294 of these new Golden Inventions seems unwilling to call the Liver a Bowel for the future, but rather a conglomerated or cluster'd Glandule; yet I beseech him to grant us this liberty, that we may still, for a while, call it a Bowel, lest by too sudden a change of the name, we should render our Discourse ob∣scure, especially among those who ne∣ver heard of this Denomination be∣fore.

VIII. In the mean time the Condi∣tion of the unfortunate Liver is to be lamented; as being that which for∣merly was call'd the Principal Bowel, and by Galen seated in the highest

Throne of Sanguisication, and there has been worship'd for many Ages by the common consent of Physic; yet that in these our times it should be torn and depos'd from its Throne, and de∣spoil'd of all its Soveraignty; nay that it should be said to be dead, and there∣fore be buried, and only remembred with an Ironical Epitaph by Bartholine, and yet contrary to the expectation of all men, like a Silkworm chang'd into a Butterflie, so metamorphos'd into a piti∣ful conglomerated Glandule, be beholding to a miserable resurrection in that like∣ness.

IX. The Colour of the Liver obvi∣ous* 1.295 to sight, which is ruddy, is not peculiar to it, by reason of its frame, and composition, but accidental, by reason of the copious quantity of Blood infus'd into it, through the Vena Portae, as by the following Ex∣periment of Glissons may appear. The proper Colour of it is pale, slightly inclining to yellow, which however it seems to be a tincture which it receives from the Choler passing through it: and hence it is that Malpigius ascribes to it a white Colour.

X. By reason of the vast quantity* 1.296 of Blood that flows to it, the tempera∣ment of it is hot and moist, and by its heat it cherishes and comforts the Sto∣mach.

XI. It is incompass'd with a thin* 1.297 Membrane, arising from the Perito∣naeum that girds the Diaphragma, and rolls it self back about the Li∣ver.

XII. It hangs as it were strictly* 1.298 fasten'd above through all its Circum∣ference to the Diaphragma, with a broad membranous strong Ligament, arising from the Peritonaeum, where it adheres to the joynted Cartilage. Erroneously therefore wrote Spigelius, that it is distant a fingers breadth from the Diaphragma. This Ligament is not only fasten'd to the outermost Mem∣brane of the Liver, but constitutes it, and to the end it may sustain the weight of so large a Bowel without the hazard of breaking, it descends toward the in∣ner parts of it, and is fasten'd to the common sheath or swath of the Branch of the Vena Portae, where the Navel Vein adjoyns to it. To this broad Liga∣ment is joyn'd another peculiar round and strong Ligament springing also from the Peritonaeum, where the Liver is joyn'd upon the right and left side to the Diaphragma. But this Ligament we have seen more than once wanting in Men; and for the most part is not to be found in Beasts; and there some Disse∣cters of Beasts, that have not seen many Dissections of Human Bodies, from their Dissection of Brutes, believ'd that Liga∣ment to be frequently wanting in Men. Below, it is fasten'd to the Abdomen by the Navel Ligament, that is, the Navel Vein cut off after the Birth, and chang'd into a Ligament, by which the massie Bowel is kept fast in its place, and hin∣der'd from ascending higher with the Diaphragma.

XIII. It also adheres to other neigh∣bouring Parts, as the Vena Cava and Vena Portae, the Omentum, &c. Which Ligaments however do not hold it in its hanging Posture.

XIV. By these Ligaments, altho' the Liver be fix'd in its place, yet is it not so straightly ty'd, but that it may be mov'd with Convenience e∣nough in Respiration upwards and downwards, and in the Motion of the Body to the Right or Left, or in any other Posture, as Necessity requires.

XV. It admits into it four very* 1.299 small Nerves; two from the sixth Pair; a third from the Stomach Pair, and a fourth from the Costal Pair; to which the obtuse Sense or Feeling of that Membrane or Tunicle only that involves it is attributed; for they do not seem to penetrate into the inner Substance of it. However Galen 4. de us. part. c. 23. & 3. de loc. affect. c. 3. & 4. has observ'd two nota∣ble Nerves which accompany the Vena Portae enter the Parenchyma. It wanted not bigger nor more inward Nerves, as that which needed not to feel, and ma∣king the Ferment it self, might well be without the fermentative Quality of the Animal Spirits.

XVI. It is furnished with very* 1.300 small Arteries coming to it from the right Coeliac Branch (according to Veslingius very few, but according to Walaeus innumerable) and Do∣minic. de Marchettis anat. c. 4. writes that he has sometimes seen when the upper Mesenteric Artery has communicated a large Branch to

the Liver. These Arteries Galen tells us are chiefly dispersed through the Hollow or Saddle Part of it. Rolfinch says that he has observ'd 'em very nu∣merous in the Convex Part of it. Glis∣son observes no little Branches of small Arteries extended toward the inner Parts of the Liver, but all plainly to terminate in the Membrane. Reason altogether confirms Glissons Opinion; for the Substance of the Liver has hard∣ly any need of Arteries, seeing that the Blood flows to it in Quantity sufficient enough through the Porta Vein (which here performs the Office of an Arterie) which Blood by reason of its similitude in Substance, is more convenient for its own Nourishment and making of choleric Ferment, than the Arterous Blood. Nor does the Vena Portae with its Branches, nor the Roots of the Vena Cava want Arteries; as being suf∣ficiently furnished and nourished with their own contain'd Blood; nor does it ever appear, that any little Branches of Arteries are inserted into the Tunicles of any Veins for their Nourishment. Therefore because fewer Parts of the Liver are nourished with arterial Blood, Veslingus seems not erroneously to have observ'd, that only a few Arteries enter the Liver. Hence Lindan takes notice, and that very truly, that those Arteries seem rather to stop in the investing Membrane, than to penetrate into the Substance of the Liver.

XVII. It has double Veins. For* 1.301 in the upper Part, the Vena Cava seems to be joyn'd to it, into which many Roots being up and down dis∣persed through the Substance of the Liver, discharge their Blood. With these Roots, in the lower Part, meet the little Branches of the Vena Portae, which run likewise through the whole Parenchyma.

XVIII. To these Vessels is adjoyned* 1.302 the Porus Biliarius, which is disper∣sed through the Liver with innumera∣ble Roots, receiving the Choler sepa∣rated from the bloody Ferment: With which moreover are intermingl'd other very thin Roots afterwards closing together, and in one little Pipe con∣veighing the Choler to the Vesicle of the Gall.

XIX. Besides these Vessels, Asellius* 1.303 writes, that he has observ'd a Branch of the milkie Vessels in the Liver. But without doubt the Egress of the lymphatic Vessels, at that time alto∣gether unknown, from the Liver, de∣ceived him. For there are no milkie or chyliferous Vessels that run to the Liver, as we have a thousand times demonstrated in our Dissections of Brutes as well alive as dead; but many milkie Vessels issue forth out of it, car∣rying a most clear and transparent Juice.

So also Gualter Charleton l. de Oecon. Animal. saith, that the same is to him unquestionable by a thousand Experiments, and there∣fore he concluded without any farther Scruple that there was no Portion of the Chylus conveighed to the Liver. And therefore no Credit is to be given to Gassendus and Backius, who believe the Chylus to be carried to the Liver through the Ductus Cholidochus. For the obstructing Valves, and the narrow and oblique Entrance of the Ductus into the Duodenum, and the contrary Motion of the Choleric, and Pancreatic or Sweet∣bread Juice toward the Intestine, in living Animals obvious to the Sight, sufficiently refute their Opinion.

XX. The Vessels of the Liver are* 1.304 intermix'd after a wonderful manner through its Substance or little Lobes, as plainly appears if the Flesh be se∣parated, which is to be done leisurely and carefully, for fear of tearing the Vessels. For the performing of which Excarnation, Glisson describes three ways. Anat. hep. c. 21. Formerly it was asserted by the Anatomists, that the Roots of the Vena Cava ran chiefly through the upper Part, but that the little Branches of the Vena Portae ran chiefly through the lower part of the Liver. But by the more indefatigable Industry of Glisson and Malpigius, it is since discovered, that both the aforesaid Vessels, and the small Branches of the Gall-Vessels, are equally dispers'd and intermix'd one with another through the whole Parenchyma, and reach to e∣very Part alike: But that the little Branches of the Gall-Vessels are much less than those of the Vena Cava or Portae: For that through those the few∣er and thinner Choleric Humours glide; through these the more bloody and somewhat thicker are to be conveighed. And it was but Reason that these Ves∣sels should be dispersed through the whole Bowel, when all its Parts con∣spire to the same Performances. How∣ever the Liver is harder in its lower

Part, by reason of the Ingress and E∣gress of the larger Vessels, as also for that the Conglobated Glandules are there chiefly seated.

XXI. But how all these little Branches are intermingl'd one among another in the Liver, there is a great Dispute among the Anatomists. For I say nothing of the Lymphatic Vessels, for that they take their Rise no farther than from the Conglobated Glandules, nor enter any farther into the rest of the Substance of the Liver. The greatest part of Anatomists, following Galen, write that the little Branches of the Porta with the Roots of the Vena Cava, are joyned together by many Anastomo∣ses, so that sometimes they close toge∣ther at their Ends, sometimes their Ends enter into the Sides of other little Branches; and that to these the inter∣jected Bilarie Vessels are fasten'd by frequent Anastomoses. To these Fallo∣pius, Cartesius, Riolanus, and several o∣thers are of a contrary Judgment, who altogether question those Anastomoses, and affirm that either they are not at all, or else very obscure. Bartholine writes, from the Observation of Har∣vey, that the Roots of the Vena Portae creeping through the Gibbous Part of the Liver, are covered with Sieve-like Tunicles full of infinite Pinholes, other∣wise than the Branches of the Vena Ca∣va, which are divided into large Arms, and that the various Excursions of each Vessel run forth into the Bossie Part of the Bowel without any Anastomoses. Bau∣hinus tells us of a remarkable Anastomo∣ses, which represents a Channel, and is as it were a common and continued Pas∣sage from the Branches of the Vena Portae into the Roots of the Vena Cava, admitting the point of a good bigg Bod∣kin. Into this apparent Channel others deny that any Branches of the Vena Porta are opened, because that no such Opening could either be seen or ob∣serv'd. Glisson writes that this Chanel is a Production or Continuation of the Umbilical Vein through which, in the Embryo, the Navel-Blood is carried di∣rectly to the Vena Cava: But that it is altogether shut up in Men that are once Born, and together with the Umbilical Vein supplys the Office of a Ligament, neither do any Orifices of any other Vessels open into it.

XXII. So that how the Blood flows out of the little Branches of the Ve∣na Portae into the Roots of the Ve∣na Cava, and Vena Portae, from the foresaid various and differing Opini∣ons can hardly be made manifest.

XXIII. In this Obscurity not only* 1.305 Malpigius by his Observations made with his Microscope, but Glisson, an exact Examiner of the Liver, af∣fords us great Light. Which latter, by his frequent Excarnations of this Bowel, writes that he has found by Ex∣perience, that the Branches of the Ve∣na Portae and Vena Cava, joyn one to another, and there grow close together, but do not open into one another, nor that any little Branches are inserted in∣to the Side of one another, or close with the Ends of any other, but only that the Sanguineous Humors are emptyed through the Ends of the Branches of the Vena Portae into the Substance of the Liver, and from thence again enters the gaping Ends of the Vena Cava, and Gall Vessels, all which Ends terminate into the Substance of the Liver; (this Mal∣pigius, as abovesaid, observed to be per∣form'd or done by the means of the Glandulous Balls, of which the Sub∣stance of the Liver chiefly consists) and that there is as much Blood and Hu∣mors suck'd up through the gaping Ends of those Roots, as is poured into the Substance of the Branches of the Por∣ta, always granting a due and just pro∣portion of the Bowel.

Certainly I believe there is great Cre∣dit to be given to the Experience of this famous Person. For his Treatise sufficiently testifies that he was very di∣ligent and laborious in making his Scru∣tinies into the Liver; and therefore we have thought it necessary to quote his Experiment, by which he solidly proves that there are no Anastomoses of the Vessels in the Liver, anat. Hep. c. 33. in these Words.

XXIV. For the farther Confirma∣tion,* 1.306 saith he, of this Opinion, I will bring one memorable Experi∣ment, which gives a great Light not only to this Passage of the Blood out of the Vena Portae into the Cava, but to several other things belonging to the Circulation of the Blood.

At a 〈◊〉〈◊〉 therefore at London, we thought fit to try, how easily Water being forc'd into the Porta would pass through the Liver. To that end we took a good large Ox's Bladder, fitted to a Pipe (as when we give a Glister) and fill'd it with warm Water coloured with a little Milk, and then having ty'd it with a String that none of the Liquor might slide

back, we put in the top of the Pipe into the Porta near the Liver. Presently the Bladder being hard squ•…•…ez'd, the Water passing through the Pipe, enters the Ve∣na Cava, and thence carried into the right Sinus of the Heart, goes to the Lungs through the Arterious Vein, and passing through them slides down into the left Ventricle, thence is carried into the Aor∣ta; and lastly we discern clear Milkie Footsteps of this Humor in the Kidneys. The Liquor thus transmitted into the Li∣ver, wash'd away the Blood by degrees, not only from the larger Vessels, but also from the Capillaries and the Parenchy∣ma it self. For the bloody Colour seem'd to vanish by degrees, and by and by all the Blood being wash'd away, the Liver turn'd from a white and dark Brown in∣to a kind of Yellow. Which Colour, as seems most probable to me, is nearest the natural Colour of the Liver, than the Ruddie which it borrows from the Blood continually passing through it. After this Experiment made, we cut pretty deep in∣to the Parenchyma it self, that we might know whether the inner Parts of it were likewise chang'd, and there we also found all the Blood so washed away likewise, that it could hardly be done in such a manner any other way: For that the whole Pa∣renchyma was all of the same Colour be∣fore mentioned. Now if the injected Li∣quor had penetrated the Liver by the help of the Anastomoses, how came it to pass that all the Blood was thence wash'd a∣way, and that the Parenchyma having lost the bloody Colour, should presently of its own Accord put on the new Colour. Certainly the Water could add no Colour to it, which it wants it self. Nor could the Milk impart to it that dark Brown Colour, altho' by that means it might re∣tain something of its Whiteness. But for the avoyding of all farther Dispute, I often try'd this Experiment with Water alone. Yet still the Colour appear'd to be pale and dark Brown; and because it appear'd to be alike in all the parts of the Parenchyma, it was a certain sign, that the Water wash'd all the Parts a∣like. Which could not any way have been done, if part of it, having made its Passage through the Anastomoses had slid immediately into the Vena Cava. Now that the Blood naturally takes the same Road with the Water, I do not be∣lieve there is any one that questions. And therefore I think it fit thereupon to con∣clude that the Blood does not glide through those feign'd Anastomoses, but runs tho∣rough the Parenchyma of the Liver it self.

XXV. This celebrated Experi∣ment, added to the celebrated Obser∣vations of Malpigius, so clearly il∣lustrates the Understanding of a thing hitherto so obs•…•…ure, that now there can be no farther Doubt con∣cerning the manner of the Passage of the Blood out of the Porta into the Vena Cava, nor of the natu∣ral Colour of the Liver it self, which being boyl'd, appears to be of a pale yellowish Colour, inclining to a dark Brown. And hence moreover it is most clearly apparent, how in other Parts also, the Circulation of the Blood is made not only through the Anasto∣moses of the Arteries with the Veins, but through the Pores of the Substance of the Parts themselves. Of which more at large l. 2. c. 8.

XXVI. As the Trunk of the Por∣ta Vein entring the Liver in the hol∣low Part, sends forth a thousand Branches into it, so likewise a thou∣sand Roots of the Vena Cava are dispersed through those interjacent Ramifications, and there by little and little meet together toward the upper∣most and inner part of the Liver, and become fewer and larger, till at length they close into one Trunk, Con∣tinuous to the Vena Cava: Which, according to Riolanus, is fortified with a Valve preventing the Ingress of the Blood out of the Vena Cava into the Liver. Concerning which see l. 7. c. 10. But before they close toge∣ther into that Trunk, certain membra∣nous Circles on the inner Side, like Valves, are opposed to the Boughs of the larger Roots meeting together, sometimes thicker, sometimes thinner, which Bartholine has observ'd looking toward the greater Tunicle. These hinder the Return of the Blood going forward toward the Vena Cava.

XXVII. Concerning the Office of* 1.307 the Liver there are various Opinions, of which the Ancientest and the most received is from Galen, who saith that Sanguification is compleated in the Liver, and that it is the true and primary sanguifying or blood∣making Bowel.

But this Opinion, after the Discovery of the Circulation of the Blood, has been wholly abolish'd; since it is found that the Blood is only made in the Heart.

Which Hippocrates himself clearly sig∣nifies L. 4. de Morb. where he says, The Heart is the Fountain of Blood; the seat of Ch•…•…ler is in the Liver. Moreover, Reason contradicts that Opinion: First, Because there are no Milkie Vessels that reach to the Liver, and consequently no∣thing of the Chylus is carried thither to be chang'd into blood; for that the Chy∣lus neither ascends nor passes through the Mesaraic Veins, we shall farther shew L. 7. c. 22. Secondly, Because in the Embryo the Heart and the Blood are seen before any Rudiments of the Liver are seen: whereas the Liver, if it were the Effici∣ent of Sanguification, of Necessity, it ought to precede its Effect, that is to say, the Blood. Thirdly, Because when all the Bowels are form'd, and that in the beginning of the Formation all the Vessels are fill'd with Blood, then is the Liver still of a whitish colour, and inclining somewhat to yellow; which is a sign it does not generate the ruddy blood, seeing that of necessity it ought to be colour'd from the beginning by the blood which it generates and contains, before all the other Parts. But in the beginning it is of a pale colour, after∣wards somewhat yellowish, which after∣wards it preserves in its Substance, tho' clouded by the copious mixture of the blood.

XXVIII. Bartholine at first was of opinion that the more refin'd and concocted part of the Chylus was car∣ried through the Milkie Vessels, and that out of the Chylus the cruder blood is generated, which is afterwards to be brought to perfection in the Heart. And Deusingius, a stiff Defender of this Opinion, believes the Chylus comes to the Liver through the Mesaraic Veins, Tract. de Sanguific. Nay, that some of the Milkie Vessels reach from the Sweet∣bread to the Liver, and enter the hol∣low parts of it: of the former of which Opinions was Regius. But afterwards Bartholine renounc'd this Opinion, and that with good reason, because it could be no way defended. 1. Because no Milkie Vessels reach the Liver. 2. No Chylus passes through the Mesaraics.

3. Because if the Heart should make blood of the crude blood made in the Liver, and not of the Chylus it self, of necessity all the Milkie Vessels must run to the Liver, and carry thither all their Chyle, to be turn'd into blood, and none would run to the Subclavial Veins, and a good part of the Chylus would ascend through the Mesaraics to the Liver. But our Eye-sight convinces us of the truth of the first, and Reason of the latter. See l. 7. c. 2.

XXIX. Glisson believes the Paren∣chyma* 1.308 of the Liver to be a certain Streiner through which the Blood and Humours pass, and that those alterati∣ons which they undergo in the Liver, are accomplish'd by percolation. True it is, such a simple streining may sepa∣rate the thin from the thick, but occasi∣on no other alteration worth speaking of. Besides, where there is any streining, there the thin pass thorough, and the thick remain behind. But through the Liver not only all the Blood passes, neither is there any thing of thick that remains behind; but also some part of the ruddy Blood passing thorough, lo∣sing its own nature and sweetness, is chang'd into bitter and yellow Choler. If Glisson should perchance object, That that same Choler is the thicker part, and therefore it does not pass with the rest of the blood, but is evacuated thorough the Ductus Biliarius; I answer, That the Choler indeed does often acquire a certain thickness in the Gall-bag, through its long standing, and the dissipation of the most thin parts by the heat; but that the said Choler, so long as it re∣mains in the Liver mix'd with the blood, is thinner than the blood it self. And this I will prove by the Roots of the Porus Biliarius, and the Gall-bladder, which are much less, much thinner and narrower, than the Roots of the Vena Cava inserted into the Liver. For if it were thicker, it could never be suck'd in, and evacuated through Vessels much thinner than the rest; and leave the thinner to be receiv'd by the bigger and larger Roots of the hollow Vein. Be∣sides, the Choler sweats through the Tunicles of the Gall-bladder, and dyes the neighbouring Bowels of a yellow colour, whereas the blood never sweats through any Tunicles of the Veins, which are thinner and softer than that Bag; and this is very likely to be true, because it is much thicker.

XXX. Therefore the true office of* 1.309 the Liver is to moisten the Blood with a sulphury Dew, and together with the Spleen to perfect the Ferment of that and the Chylus. And therefore all Men, all Creatures, as well by Land as by Water, are furnish'd with the Li∣ver, because without that Ferment the spiritous blood could never be made.

XXXI. From all that has been said,

it appears, that the Liver was always reckon'd among the principal parts, when Galen ascrib'd to it the office of Blood-making; and though in our Age it be depos'd from that Employ∣ment, and reckon'd among the Mini∣sterial Parts; yet is it to be rank'd among the Noble Parts, the Use of which we cannot be without, and which officiates in one of the highest Offices, and whose Diseases are most dangerous, and destructive to the health of the whole Body. Especially the Wounds that are given it, are by Hippocrates and Celsus numbred among the deadly and incurable, by reason the copious efflux of Blood kills the Pa∣tient before it can be stanch'd by any Me∣dicaments; or if the Blood happen to be stop'd, yet the Ulcer that follows the Wound is very rarely or never to be cur'd; so that of three thousand wound∣ed in that part, hardly one escapes. Yet I remember five Cures of that Bowel, which are reckon'd however next to Mi∣racles.

The first is related by Gemma l. 1. Cos∣mo•…•…rit. c. 6. of a Spaniard cur'd of a Wound in his Liver.

The second Bertin says he saw L. 13. c. 7. of a Noble Man, whose Liver was not only wounded, but some part of the Liver carried away by the wound, and yet cur'd contrary to all expectation.

The third of a Patient cur'd by Ca∣brolius himself; which Patient had a wound that reach'd the deepest part of the Liver, Observat. 18.

The fourth related by the same Ca∣brolius out of Rochus of Tarragon.

The fifth mentioned by Hildan, Cent. 2. Observ. 34. of a certain Helvetian, who after a piece of his wounded Liver was taken out, and terrible symptoms of approaching death, yet recover'd.

XXXII. But these are Miracles of* 1.310 Nature which Averrhoes formerly as∣serted to happen sometimes in Cures. For my part I have seen several Wounds of the Liver, as well in the Field as in other Places, but never yet saw any man so wounded escape.

XXXIII. Things unusual are sel∣dom* 1.311 found in the Liver, yet we find in some Writers the Relations of Stones and Worms that have been seen therein. Among the rest Hierome M•…•…ntu is reports that he has seen a Liver full of Worms * 1.312: and such kind of Worms Wier is and Bauhinus have ob∣serv'd. Borell is found a Hairy worm in the Liver of a Dog.

Then for Stones, the Experience of se∣veral convinces us that they have been found in the Liver: but they are rarely generated in the Liver; yet the Author of the German Physical Ephemerides cites one Example out of George Greiselius, of a certain Lady in the lower part of the Lobe of whose Liver there grew a Blad∣der a hands breadth in length, wherein was contained a shining black glutinous Humour, and in the middle of it a Stone as big as a Hens Egg, shining also, as if it had been full of Niter, but insipid and without any smell, weighing an onnce and eighteen grains. The same Author cites another Example out of Iames of Negropont, of a Liver of an unusual big∣ness, weighing above twelve pounds, which was hard, yellow, and here and there strew'd with hard Stones; and in the Gall-bladder, besides much yellow small sand, were contain'd two round, yellow, rough Stones, about the bigness of a Musket-bullet: besides which, another lesser Stone stopp'd up the Meatus Hepa∣ticus to the Gall-bladder. But tho' Stones are rarely found in the Livers of Men, yet in the Livers of diseased Oxen and Sheep, we have sometimes found 'em very numerous, some red, some yellowish; others white like Tartar of Wine.

XXXIV. To this Story of the Li∣ver* 1.313 may be added a certain Conjun∣ction of the Liver with the Lungs, and a wonderful situation of both of them, and the parts adjoyning, which D. Wassenaer, a famous Physician at Utrecht, imparted to me in writing, as seen by him in a little Child of Cor∣nelius de Mirop, Governour of Win∣genlangenraeck. This Child was in his life time Asthmatic, and vexed with a frequent and terrible Cough, upon e∣very slight occasion; and at length dy'd of a Fever at seven years of Age. Whose Body being open'd the 2d of Febr. 1665. in the presence of D. Goyer, the said Was∣senaer, and two or three Chirurgions and others.

XXXV. The Abdomen being laid* 1.314 open, saith he, and the Breast, there was no Diaphragma to be found by which the Thorax is separated from the lower Belly. Nor was there any more than one Lobe of the Lungs, which being continued on the right side with the Liver, seem'd to be like it both in colour and substance. There was no spunginess in that Lobe, which crossing the middle of the Liver, un∣der the hollow part of it, stuck out like an Appendix. Out of the midst of the Liver certain Passages, like the Gristles of the Windpipe, deriv'd themselves into the Aspera Arteria it self. There was no skin or cover that appear'd about the Ribs; for the Li∣ver and right part of its Lobe, stuck every where so close to the Ribs, that they could not be separated but by a Penknife. The Pericardium, in which there was but very little Liquor, enfold∣ed but half the Heart, which about the bottom, together with the left and upper part of the Lobe of the Lungs, was so firmly united to the Spine of the Back, as the Liver and right side of the lobe of the Lungs was fasten'd to the Ribs. In the Convex and lower part of the Liver, about the ninth Rib was an Ulcer, full of well concocted Matter. The Stomach also, consider∣ing the proportion of the Body, and the Age of the Child, was twice as big as it ought to have been.

XXXVI. And thus sometimes we meet with wonderful things, as to the situation, structure, and connexion of the Bowels.

As for Example; No less rare and* 1.315 monstrous is that, which upon his own, and the testimony of several other Phy∣sicians and Chirurgions, Schenkius af∣firms, Observ. l. 3. viz. that in the Year 1564. in the dissection of the dead Bo∣dy of Ortelius, a Merchant of Antwerp, there was not so much as the footstep to be seen of any Liver or Spleen; but that the substance of all the Intestines was fleshie, and much more solid than the flesh of the Muscles, that it seem'd to resemble the flesh of the Heart. That the Vena Cava had taken its rise from the Origi∣nal it self, which was thought to be the Cause that the Patient in his life time was so frequently tormented with an In∣flammation and Aposteme in his Lungs. Malpigius therefore conjectures, and that not without reason, that the glan∣dulous substance of the Liver, contrary to the order of Nature, was extended all the length of the Intestines.

CHAP. XV. Of the Choler Vessels, and the Cho∣ler it self.

I. FOR the discharge of the Cho∣ler* 1.316 there are two Passages ap∣pointed in the right and hollow part of the Liver, that is to say, the Gall∣bladder, and the Porus Bilarius. Thorough the latter the more feculent and milder Choler flows into the Inte∣stines. Into the former the thinner Cho∣ler * 1.317 flows, and staying there a while, by that stay cuts off the proper quality of the part, but more from the remaining Liquor that sticks to it, acquires a shar∣per and more fermentative quality.

II. The Gall-bladder is an oblong* 1.318 Bladder, fashion'd like a Pear, some∣what round, hollow, and seated in the caveous or hollow part of the Li∣ver.

III. At the uppermost and middle* 1.319 part it is joyn'd to the hollow of the Liver; the rest of it hangs forth with∣out the body of the Liver; where touching the right side of the Ventri∣cle, and the Gut Colon, it frequent∣ly moistens and stains both with the Choler transpiring through its Tuni∣cles.

IV. It is furnish'd with a double* 1.320 Membrane. The one exterior with∣out Fibres, rising from the Peritonae∣um, which invests the pendulous part without the Liver, and fastens it to the Liver, and is the same with the exterior Membrane of the Liver. The other proper and more thick, strength∣ned with a slippery Slime against the Acrimony of the contain'd Humour.

This several Anatomists, with Laurenti∣us, affirm to be interwoven with all man∣ner* 1.321 of Fibres, and that with the right Fi∣bres it attracts the Choler to it, with the oblique, it retains the Choler in it, and with the Transverse expells it. Yet to o∣thers these Fibres seem to be imaginary, in regard they cannot by any way be de∣monstrated; and therefore Fallopius and Riolanus explode 'em; and Glisson both rejects and refutes their Use describ'd by Laurentius. But Laurentius's Cause may be well enough maintain'd, if we say that although these Fibres cannot be ma∣nifestly demonstrated, yet they may be discern'd by Reason, seeing this part stands no less in need of Fibres to main∣tain and strengthen it, than the Veins, Arteries, the Piss-bladder, and several others, which when they are dilated, contract again by means of their Fibres, and so return again to their former Con∣dition. Which distention happens in the Gall-bladder by reason of the redun∣dancy of the Gall, or else its Efferve∣scency; which, a Contraction by means of Fibres, tho' invisible or obscure, must be of necessity, not only to press forth the Choler out of the Bladder, (which Glisson grants) but also to reduce the Gall-bladder to its first condition. To this we may add, that Fibres are admit∣ted by Anatomists in Veins, which never∣theless no man can easily demonstrate, though it be manifest from their crooked swellings that they have Fibres.

V. It has two sorts of Vessels, some* 1.322 that open into the Cavity of it; of which more anon. Others, which run thorough its Tunicles or Membranes, which are fourfold.

1. Small little Arteries, proceeding from the upper right Branch of the Cae∣llac. 2. Many Capillary Veins, bringing back the remainder of the blood after Nourishment supply'd, and at length closing in two small Branches, through which it pours forth this blood into the Vena Portae. 3. A little Nerve hardly conspicuous, deduc'd from the branch of the sixth Pair creeping through the Tunicle of the Liver. 4. Some few Lymphatic Vessels propagated from the Liver, running through its exterior parts. The Arteries and a Nerve enter it about the Neck of it. The Veins go forth the same way toward the Porta•…•… The Lym∣phatic Vessels in Men enter the same way, and running thorough the bottom of the Gall-bladder, at the lower part are joyn∣ed with the rest of the Lymphatics pro∣ceeding from the Liver. But in those Creatures where the Gall-bladder hangs forth out of the Liver, they enter at the Neck, and fetching a Circuit about the bottom, return the same way toward o∣ther Lymphatic Vessels proceeding out of the Liver.

VI. This Bladder is divided into* 1.323 bottom and neck.

VII. The bottom is larger, round,* 1.324 or shap'd like a Pear, dangling below, of the colour of the Gall contain'd in it; sometimes yellow, sometimes rust∣colour'd, sometimes black, and some∣times of a Garlick green.

VIII. In the bottom of this same* 1.325 Gall-bladder are found several Stones, but so light, that being thrown into Water, they will swim at the top. Of these I have observ'd sundry colours: sometimes yellow, sometimes black in∣clining to green, and sometimes speckl'd like Marble. These seem to be genera∣ted out of Choler, void of any Acrimo∣ny, which in regard it never boyls, never breaks out of the said Gall-bladder, but is harden'd within it by degrees into Stones, by the heat of the Liver. For∣merly* 1.326 I dissected a Person that dy'd of the Jaundice, after he had been for some years troubled with a black and green Iaundice * 1.327, in whose Gall-bladder I found a Stone somewhat black, and of an indifferent blackness.

Fernelius Patholog. l. 6. c. 5. gives us a Relation of a certain old man, who had such a large Stone in his Gall-bladder, filling the whole Concavity of it to that degree, that he might be thought to have no Bladder at all. Other innumerable Examples there are of Stones found in the Gall-bladder, frequent to be seen in the Writings of Physicians.

IX. The neck of the Bladder is* 1.328 narrower, and toward the upper parts is streightned into a thin passage, which ends in a common passage lead∣ing to the Intestines.

X. In this neck, according to the* 1.329 Opinion of Andrew Laurentius, Ves∣lingius, and Bartholine, there are Valves to be discern'd, sometimes two, sometimes three, preventing the

Return into the Bladder of the Choler which ought to flow into the Intestines. But I could never observe any such things; however, I observ'd the E∣gress of the Bladder to be most strait, and the Neck of it to be full of many wrinkles, lest the descent of the Cho∣ler should be too easie and too slippery, and therefore to render the Evacuation the more slow. In like manner neither could Riolanus and Glisson find those Valves. For the said narrowness of the Neck seems to be order'd by Nature to that end, that the Choler being once got into its Bladder, should not present∣ly return again, but stay for some time within, to acquire a sharper Acrimony, and more fermentative quality * 1.330, from the nature and property of the place, and by the mixture of the sharp Choler still remaining in the Bladder, which being once well mingled with it, and thence raising a slight Effervescency in the Cho∣ler it self, it happens that the wrinkles of the Neck being dilated and gaping by means of that distension, some part of it being attenuated and made more fluid by that Effervescency, cannot conveni∣ently be contain'd, but is forc'd down to the Intestines. Of which see more C. 17. following.

XI. The Choler is carried to the* 1.331 Bladder through many small Roots, scatter'd up and down in the Liver a∣mong many little Branches of the Ve∣na Cava and Vena Portae, (as has been said in the foregoing Chapter,) which closing together into one passage, through that passage pour forth the Choler ‖ 1.332 into the Gall-bladder. But these Roots are so small, that they are hardly to be seen; only the Trunk into which they all run, is to be found. And Glisson describes the way of searching for it, and finding it out, Anat. Hep. c. 13. This Trunk we have often seen very ap∣parent with some Roots in an Ox Liver, admitting a good big Bodkin; to which, at the entrance into the Bladder of the Gall, sometimes a small, and sometimes a large Valve is affix'd, which hinders the return of the Choler out of the Bladder into the Liver. In Dogs, whose Liver is divided into several Lobes, we have often found, and visibly shewn to the Standers by two or three Trunks. If you ask then, how it returns in Per∣sons that are troubled with the Jaundice? I answer that it does not return, but that the Choler which is generated in the Liver, for want of convenient Effer∣vescency and Fermentation, is not sepa∣rated from the blood, and therefore ne∣ver flows into the Bladder, but remains mix'd with the blood, and together with that is carried to the hollow Vein, the Heart, and the rest of the Body.

XII. The Use of the Gall-bladder* 1.333 is to collect the Choler with which, in healthy Persons, it is moderately re∣plenish'd, yet not fill'd so full, but that it might contain half a spoonful more. In a sickly habit of body it is some∣times swell'd and stuff'd with Choler; sometimes, but very rarely, altogether empty.

XIII. The other Choler Vessel is the* 1.334 Porus Bilarius, call'd the Bilary Pas∣sage, which is an oblong Chanel, twice as large as the neck of the Bladder, proceeding from the Liver not far from the Vena Portae, and conveigh∣ing the Choler receiv'd by the Liver into the common Chanel, which glides not only somewhat thicker and more dreggy through the broader Chanel, but also milder; where it does not tarry by the way, or acquire a more eager A∣crimony, either by a longer stop, or from the nature of the place, as the o∣ther already collected in the Blad∣der.

XIV. To this there are some that* 1.335 appropriate double Valves, preventing the regress of the Choler into the Li∣ver; the one at its Exit out of the Liver, and the other at its Entrance into the Ductus Communis. But o∣others deny there are any such Valves, because they cannot be found by Anato∣mists. But Reason seems to perswade us, if there are not two, yet that there ought to be one, seeing it is manifest that there is such a Valve in the Trunk which hin∣ders the regress of the Choler. Por our parts, we shall forbear to determine the Controversie, till our Eyes, and certain

Demonstration shall give a definitive Sentence.

XV. Now here a Question may a∣rise,* 1.336 Whether there be two sorts of Choler generated in the Liver, of which the one sort, being the sharper, flows into the Gall-bladder; and the other milder flows through the Choler Pas∣sage? I say, No; but that it is one and the same Choler, whose somewhat more feculent parts nevertheless more easily pass through the Porus Bilarius, as being broader, and by reason of their feculency are less eager; but the more thinner parts are conveigh'd into the Gall-bladder; to the end they may there be made more sharp, and acquire a more efficacious fermentative power, as well from the Specific Temper of the Body, as from the Mixture of the sharp Choleric Juice remaining in the Bladder.

XVI. But that the Choler, which* 1.337 glides through the Porus Bilarius, differs in some qualities from that which is contain'd in the Gall, Mal∣pigius has experienc'd, Lib. de liene, c. 6. and found that which flows through the said Porus to be more mix'd and less sharp, nor coloured a∣like, and being heated by the fire, yields a most strong scent, which the other does not do. Perhaps it may be objected, That many times there is a thick and slimy Choler found in the Gall∣bladder, which for the most part is very insipid, and void of Acrimony. I an∣swer, That it is not so thick when it first enters the Gall-bladder (for being thick and viscous, it could never pass through the narrow Passages of the Roots, but when the Gall-bladder is obstructed, or that the Choler for some other cause is detain'd within it longer than is requi∣site, then the thinner parts being dissipa∣ted by the heat of the Liver, the Choler becomes thick and viscous in it, contrary to its natural temper; and sometimes is dry'd to a stony hardness: which for the most part happens for this reason, because it has not a fermentative quality, strong enough to stir it up to the Effervescency, and so to timely expulsion. In like manner, I say, that the Choler becomes whitish and insipid in the Bladder, for want of that saltish and sow'rish Liquor that comes from the Spleen, by reason of the corruption or defect of which Li∣quor, the Liver begets vicious Choler * 1.338, which may easily happen in a sickly Con∣stitution, wherein any other Humors in any other part of the Body, may alter from their natural habit.

XVII. Now the Porus Bilarius re∣ceives* 1.339 that milder sort of Choler by means of innumerable Roots that are dispers'd through the Liver, which accompany the little Branches of the Vena Portae to all parts of the Liver (some excepted, to which the Roots of the Gall-bladder are extended,) nay, they are wrapt about with one and the same Tunicle, arising from the Mem∣brane that enfolds the Liver, in like manner as the Spermatic Vein and Ar∣tery; and by means of that so closely stick one to another, that they cannot be separated one from another without tearing; in so much that at first sight they seem to be one and the same Vessel, and can only be discern'd to be distinct from the variety of the Colour, if they be held up to a clear light, which can∣not be done but when the Liver is excar∣nated.

XVIII. Franciscus Sylvius de le* 1.340 Boe is of opinion that they are not the little Branches of the Vena Portae which are cover'd with one common Tunicle with the Roots of the Bilary Porus, but that they are the little Branches of the Hepatic Artery, which he reports that he saw discover'd and demonstrated by John van Horn, Di∣sputat. Med. 6. Thes. 52. But with∣out doubt, in that demonstration the little Gall Branches, which because of the Liquor contain'd in them, are not so ruddy as the Veins, were by Van Horn taken for Arteries. But that which Sylvius adds, That the He∣patic Artery, for the most part inclosed within the common Covering, is inserted into the little Branches of the Hepatic Bilary Porus, I will believe it when I see it. I know there is a very close conjun∣ction of the little Branches of the Porta and the Gall Vessels, but of no Artery. And hence, that there is any Insertion of any Artery by Anastomoses into the Bila∣ry Vessels, must be prov'd before my Eyes by demonstration, before I can give* 1.341 credit to it.

XIX. And therefore the Roots of the Porus receive the Choler or Iuice generating of it from the Substance of

the Liver it self, into which several little Branches of the Vena Portae, few of the Hepatic Arteries empty their Blood, which is presently alter'd therein, and by the mixture of sulphury and saltish Particles is concocted after a new manner, and in many of its Particles grows bitter, and turns into Choler. Which Choleric Particles, by means of the Glandulous Balls (of which Malpigius asserts the Substance of the Liver chiefly to consist) are separated from the other bloody Particles, which are less alter'd by that Concoction, and suck'd up by the Roots of the Porus Bi∣larius and Gall-bladder.

XX. And, as has been already said of the Arteries, there are many that feign several Anastomoses between the Extremities of the Twigs of the Vena Portae and the Bilary Roots, although there are no such things as we have shew'n in the foregoing Chapter. And which Glisson clearly evinces by many Reasons and Experience, ought not to be; in regard that the whole Alteration of the Blood into Choler, and separation and transfusion of it out of the Veins into the Bilary Vessels, is made by means of the Glandulous Balls.

XXI. Now the Choler flowing as* 1.342 well from the Liver through the Bilary Porus, as out of the Gall-bladder, meets in one common Chanel, call'd the Ductus Cholidochus, which is a Me∣atus Chanel or Passage made out of the Necks of the Bilary Porus, and the Gall-bladder meeting together.

XXII. This goes for the most part* 1.343 alone, sometimes admitting the Pan∣creatic Chanel at the end of it (which is very frequent in a Man, seldom in a Dog,) toward the end of the Duo∣denum, or beginning of the Jejunum, obliquely between both Tunicles of the Intestine, for the most part single, sel∣dom double about the end, with an In∣sertion of about a fingers breadth, o∣pens toward the hollow of the Inte∣stine, and empties its Choler into the Guts, as well immediately out of the Liver, as out of the Vesicle of the Gall. Others, and not without reason, rather believe that this whole Chanel is no more than the Bilary Porus, extended from the Liver to the Guts, into which, on the side, is inserted the Neck of the Gall∣bladder.

XXIII. Vesalius and Sylvius assert* 1.344 that there are certain loose little Mem∣branes fix'd to the Orifice of this Cha∣nel like Valves, preventing the Re∣turn of the Choler from the Guts to the Liver. But if we inquire more dili∣gently, there will be no membranous Valves to be found here, only an Inter∣nal loose Membrane of the Intestine, de∣press'd by the concocted Nourishment passing thorough, so shuts up the way, that no Liquor can enter the Chanel from the Guts, which when the Choler descends and seeks to go forth out of the Chanel, presently opens and gives it a free Passage.

XXIV. Glisson allows to that part* 1.345 of the Chanel which obliquely enters and bores the Gut, Fibres like Rings, which he believes are open'd like the Sphincter Muscles, when plenty of Choler makes its way, but are then con∣tracted again when that Choler is pass'd away, till more new Choler comes. And these Fibres, as he says, prevent a∣ny Humour from ascending from the Guts to the Liver or Gall-bladder. But perhaps Glisson took that little piece of Flesh which bunches out at the Exit of the Ductus Cholidochus into the Guts, for some little Shincter Muscle.

XXV. But because that some ob∣lique* 1.346 Passage into the Guts is very narrow, and the Channel broad, hence the other seems not able to transmit hardly the tenth part of the Choler through a Channel no wider than a Goose-Quill, therefore Glisson thought that the foresaid Ductus Cholido∣chus, did not only do the Duty of Chanels to conveigh the Choler, but also perform'd the Office of Recepta∣cles or Bladders, to contain and keep it for some time. But in the Dissections of dead Carcasses 'tis very rarely seen that any Choler is contain'd in those Vessels. And therefore 'tis more probable that the Choler most usually descends in a small Quantity from the Liver and the Gall-Bladder (for a small Quantity serves to procure Effer∣vescency or Fermentation of the Chylus, together with the Pancreatic Juice) and therefore by reason there is so little of it, it may easily pass through the Streights of the oblique Passage. Which Pas∣sage however being obstructed contrary to Nature, then the Choler happens to stop in the Ductus Cholidochus, as it were

in some Bladder, which never happens according to Nature in a a state of Health. For then a little Choler somewhat sharp, suffices to provoke Evacuation, to cause a Distention of the Ductus, and to open the Passages.

XXVI. Here we must observe by* 1.347 the way a certain Constitution of the Gall Vessels seldome happening, which we saw in the Year 1668. in the Dis∣section of a Woman about thirty Years of Age, who having been long trou∣bled with a Dropsy not very terrible, but partly an Anasacra, partly an Ascites, at length dy'd of it. In this Body we found the Liver not Rud∣dy, but inclining to Yellow: In the rest of the Bowels there was hardly any Yellowness to be observ'd, and an over∣abounding serous Humor fill'd the hol∣lowness of the Abdomen. The Gall-Bladder* 1.348 was White both within and without, as also the Chanel running forth toward the Ductus Cholidochus Communis; and so large as to admit al∣most a Mans little Finger. But neither in the Bladder, nor in the Chanel was any Choler at all, but a white kind of Juice, very Viscous, and not very much. Nevertheless in the common Ductus Cholidochus (which is the Bilarie Porus extended to the Guts) just entring into the Duodenum, there was contained an indifferent Quantity of yellow Choler, which by the yellow Choler within, was plainly discovered to have flow'd into the Duodenum.

XXVII. Hence we may raise a great* 1.349 Argument against those who affirm that no Choler at all flows from the Liver through the Bilary Porus to the Guts, but that part of the Choler flowing from the Vesicle, breaks forth into the Duodenum, and part as∣cends through the Bilary Porus, and so enters the Liver. Which that it cannot be done, is manifest from this Observation. For seeing that no Cho∣ler was contained in the Vesicle, nor in its Chanel, and yet the Choler was car∣ried to the Duodenum, it could be con∣veighed from no other Part than from the Liver, through the Bilary Porus, and the common Ductus Cholidochus, wherein there was Choler also found.

XXVIII. Here a Question arises,* 1.350 whether the Choler descends to the Guts continually, and with an equal Course? For Resolution of which Question, I think it proper to di∣stinguish between that Choler which flows from the Liver through the Po∣rus, and that which falls from the Gall-Bladder. Now that some Cho∣ler, tho' but a small Quantity continu∣ally flows to the Guts, and is presently mix'd with the Pancreatic Juice, flowing also in a small Quantity, is apparent to Sight in the Dislection of living Crea∣tures. But I should think that to be the milder sort, descending from the Liver through the Bilary Porus; not the shar∣per and more fermentative Sort that comes from the Bladder, as being that, which by reason of the narrowness of the Neck of the Bladder, does not seem to glide out of its place, unless when by its Effervescency it dilates the Bladder and its Neck, and makes way for it self. And so I think that this Sort does not flow but by Intervals out of the Blad∣der; and more especially when the Gall-Bladder is pressed by the Stomach full of Meat, as resting upon the right Side of it: And when by reason of the Concoction and Fermentation so near it, the Choler also begins to boyl in the said Gall-Bladder. For that same sharp Choleric Ferment is not flowing conti∣nually, nor do the Intestines always re∣quire the same Quantity of it. But chie∣fly then (when a new Chylus, being to be separated from the Guts) it either slides, or is about to slide down into 'em, Glisson on the other side, believes, that when the Stomach is full▪ or that the Chylus is descending to the lower Parts, the flowing of the Choler is not there∣by promoted, but rather hinder'd. But according to the Opinion of Galen and the Ancients, he asserts, that the Cho∣ler stays for some time in the Gall-Ves∣sels, and afterwards of a suddain is for∣ced down from thence into the Guts; and does the Office of a Clyster to purge 'em. Which was that which be∣fore Glisson, Spigelius both believed and maintained: Tho' according to the O∣pinion of these two Persons the Choler would flow into the Intestines when there was no need of it. But the Ground of this Error was this, That Galen and his Followers thought the Choler to be a meer Excrement, and that it only pro∣moted the Evacuation of the Dreggs of Nourishment, but were ignorant that it is altogether necessary to the Fermenta∣tion of the Chylus. Of which more in the following Chapter.

XXIX. Besides the common Chanel* 1.351 already mentioned, in the Year 1655.

in April, I publicly shew'd in the Anatomy Theater another unusual Cha∣nel, thinner than the other usual Cha∣nel, which nevertheless was there at the same time, and full of Yellow Cho∣ler, which had no Correspondency with the Bilary Porus, or the com∣mon Ductus Cholidochus already mentioned, but had its Rise apart above the Neck of the Gall-Bladder, where the Bladder begins to be streightened toward the Neck: Be∣sides that it was carried apart by it self to the Duodenum, into which it was in∣serted about a Fingers breadth from the Insertion of the common Ductus Choli∣doch is. The next Year in another Bo∣dy we observed something that was rare, that is to say besides the usual Ductus Cholidochus, another unusual Meatus or Chanel, extended from the middle of the Gall-Bladder, directly to that part of the Gut Colon adjoyning to it. And thus sometimes we shall observe a Chanel to extend it self from the Gall-Bladder to the Pylorus, and sometimes to the bottom of the Stomach. But these are the unusual Sports and Varie∣ties of Nature, seldome to be seen.

XXX. From what has been said,* 1.352 it is apparent that Choler is made in the Liver, * 1.353 and from hence flows forth from the Choler Vessels into the Guts. It remains now that we speak something of its Generation and its Use.

XXXI. Choler then is a Fermenta∣ceous* 1.354 Iuice prepar'd in the Liver out of the Venal Blood, and specific splenetic Iuice. a 1.355

XXXII. It is generated as well out of the Sulphury and Unctuous Parti∣cles of the Venal Blood, as the Salt and Acid Particles of the sowrish Li∣quor coming from the Spleen, toge∣ther with those that flow through the Vena Portae, being beforehand Con∣cocted, mixed and prepared in the Liver after a specific manner. For the sulphureous Juice, altho' it be sweetish of it self, being for some time concocted with the saltish Ferment, grows bitter and changes its Colour. Now that this is the matter of which Choler Con∣sists, the Art of Chymistry teaches us, as being that by which but little fixed Salt and Water, but much volatil Salt and Oyle may be extracted from the Choler of the Bladder, if in its natural Condition.

XXXIII. This Choler concocted in* 1.356 the Liver, one Part of it, being the thinnest, remaining mix'd with the Blood, is carried to the Vena Cava, and therein, infuses into the Blood a certain fermentative Quality, by which it is made fit to be presently dilated in the Heart. The other Part more bitter and more fermentaceous, partly of a milder Quality, flows through the Bilary Porus to the Intestins; and part∣ly forc'd into the Gall-Bladder, from the Property of the Place and the Juice abiding in it, becomes yet more bitter and sharp, and acquires a stronger fer∣mentative Quality.

XXXIV. From the Ignorance of* 1.357 this Motion of the Choler, some famous Physicians, as Galen, Lud. Merca∣tor, Helmont, Krempsius, Hoffman, and others made a Doubt whether some Choler were not generated in the Stomach, Heart, Head, and Kid∣neys, as well as in the Liver and Gall-Vessels; which seems to be prov'd by the Vomiting of Choler, in the Dis∣ease call'd Cholera, and the yellow Froth sometimes swimming upon ex∣tracted Blood, the Bitterness of the Excrements contain'd in the Ears, and the choleric Colour of Urines. But their Mistake proceeded from hence, that they thought Choler to be a meer Excrement, and that it was all of it sent through the Gall-Vessels to the Gutts, and from thence evacuated; and were ignorant that in the Distemper called Cholera, being forc'd out of the Blad∣der into the Guts, the greatest part of it ascended into the Stomach, and so was vomited up; as also that a good part of it was carried to the Heart, and mixed for Fermentation sake with the Blood, and circulated with the Blood through all the Body, and hence the Colour of it appeared in the Froth swimming upon the Blood, and in U∣rines; Hence also the Colour and Tast

of it proceeded in the Excrements of the Ears, tho' it be not generated in the Parts that evacuate those Excrements.

XXXV. The property of Place* 1.358 conducing to the Generation of Cho∣ler, depends partly upon the inner Tunicle of the Gall-Bladder it self, which is endu'd with a peculiar fer∣mentaceous Quality: Partly upon the Choler residing in that Bladder, which by a longer Stay, being there fermen∣ted and Boyling, becomes more sharp and bitter, and by that means ferments and renders more sharp the fresh milder Choler flowing out of the Li∣ver into the Bladder; and so by conti∣nuance the sharper Choler boyling, flows out of the Bladder, and the milder taking its Room, and staying there, becomes more sharp. Nevertheless the Choler acquires either a more intense or remiss Acrimony, according as more or fewer, and those more sharp or mil∣der, saltish and sowrish Juices, flowing from the Spleen to the Liver, and there are intermixt with the sulphurous Juice, and are more or less concocted. For if the Juice that flows from the splenetic Branch, be either less in Quantity or less Sharp, the Choler becomes less Sharp and less effectual to promote a Fermentative Effervescency; which grow∣ing Clammy in the Choler Vessels of the Liver, and Bladder, as not being suffi∣ciently attehuated by that weak Effer∣vescency, causes the Jaundice and many other Obstructions. But if the Liquor that flows from the Spleen be too sharp, then the Choler becomes too sharp and eager as well in the Vasa Bilaria of the Liver, as in the Gall-Bladder, and that Acrimony corroding too violently in the Fermentation, causes great Pains, Cholera's, Dysenteries, and other Distem∣pers, especially if a sowre Pancreatic Juice flow into the Intestins at the same time.

XXXVI. Francis de le Boe Syl∣vius,* 1.359 considering the very small and almost invincible Passages, through which the Choler is conveighed from the Liver to the Gall-Bladder, con∣ceiv'd quite another Opinion of its Generation. For he imagins Choler to be generated out of the most simi∣lar Parts of the Blood conveighed through the Cystic Arteries to the Gall-Bladder, and penetrating by de∣grees through the Pores of its Tuni∣cle into the Concavity it self, and there presently changing into the same Nature with the rest of the Choler; in like manner as a Iugg of Wine, being poured into a Tub of Vinegar streight becomes Vinegar. * 1.360

Regius is also of the same Opinion, Philos. Natur. l. 4. c. 12. who neverthe∣less seems to acknowledg the Bilarie Roots, extracting the Choler out of the venal Blood infused into the Liver. But these three things destroy the Fiction of Sylvius. 1. For that never any Signs appear of any Blood infused into the Hollow of the Gall-Bladder; no, not so much as the least Drop ever observ'd by any Anatomists; whereas in all other Parts wherein any Juice, Liquor, or Spi∣rit, is to be made of Blood, there are some marks of Blood that manifestly appear, as in the Brain and Testicles. 2. Because that Choler is generated in some Creatures that are said to be desti∣tute of a Gall-Bladder, as in the Hart, the Fallow Deer, the Camel, &c. In which Creatures it cannot be generated in the Vesicula Fellis, out of the Blood that glides through the Arteries, but being generated in the Liver it self, flows through the Bilary Porus. 3. Because those Vessels are sometimes obstructed through which the Choler is conveighed to the Porus, and Gall-Bladder, which is the cause of the Jaundice, by reason of the great Quantity of Choler diffused over the whole Body; when as it is ap∣parent that no Choler was generated in the mean time in the Porus, or empty Gall-Bladder, tho▪ the Cystic Arteries conveighed Blood sufficient to the Blad∣der as they used to do. 4. Because that in Gluttons and great Drinkers, the Jaundice proceeding from a hot Distem∣per of the Liver, cannot be caused by the arterial Blood being chang'd into Choler, which was equally both before and then carried •…•…o the Gall-Bladder; nor is there any Reason it should then be more copiously conveighed thither to be changed into Choler, than at a∣ny other time. 5. Because this Opinion seems to presuppose as if all the whole Mass of Choler were generated in the

Gall-Bladder, whereas it is all genera∣ted in the Liver * 1.361 before it comes to the Bladder: As is apparent from hence, for that very much Choler flows through the Porus to the Intestin, which never comes near the Gall-Bladder; and there∣fore could not be generated out of the Particles of the arterial Blood, gliding into the Bladder. 6. Because this Opi∣nion seems also to maintain, that real Choler does not pre-exist in the Blood, and that the Particles of it being sepa∣rated from the Blood, flow down into the hollow of the Bladder, and are there made perfect Choler. But the Vanity of this Opinion we have at large demon∣strated. C. 10. artic. de generat. Suc. pan∣creat.

XXXVII. Moreover what Sylvi∣us,* 1.362 in his Addition to his Disputati∣on, alledges for the Support of his Opinion, do not seem to be of so much Weight, as to establish his Doctrine. For the Insertion of the Hepatic Ar∣tery into the Branches of the Porus does not prove it, because the Inserti∣on it self is as yet very much questi∣oned, as being grounded more upon uncertain Belief than certain Sight, and therefore to be laid up among those Doubts which are not to be cre∣dited unless visible to the Eyes. In like manner also his Experiment made in a Dogg, by means of a little Pipe thrust into the Hepatic Artery, and blowing through it into the Gall-Blad∣der, is very uncertain, even by the Con∣fession of Sylvius himself, Thes. 54. Moreover if the Wind could be so ea∣sily blown into the Concavity of the Gall-Bladder, store of Blood might ea∣sily be also forc'd into it by the Protru∣sion of the Heart and the Cystic Arterys, which never was yet observ'd by any Person.

XXXVIII. But Malpigius abso∣lutely* 1.363 denys the Generation of Choler, l. de hep. l. 3. believing that Choler is not generated out of any Blood by the Mixture and Concoction of seve∣ral Humors in the Blood; but that it is only separated from the Blood by means of the Glandulous Balls of the Liver it self, and that such as it is, it pre-exists in the Blood, and therefore has need of nothing more than Separation. Which Separation he thinks to be thus brought to pass▪ Neither, says he, is there any Necessity for Suction, to the End the Choler should be sent to the Intestins or Gall-Bladder through the Porus, for a strong and conti∣nued Compression of the Glandules of the Liver, caused by continual Respiration, and the Impulse of the Blood running through the Arteries, and the Branches of the Portae promote the Office of Separati∣on in the Glandulous Balls, and its Pro∣pulsion through the Branches of the Porus, as it happens in other conglomerated, and conglobated Kernels, in the Parotides and the like.

XXXIX. But herein the learned Gentleman is very much mistaken, for there is in the Blood coming to the Liver and bilarie Vessels, a cer∣tain Substance intended for Choler, but not Choler it self. * 1.364

As there is in the Nourishment a certain Matter, out of which a Chylus is to be prepared by the mixture of a spe∣cific Ferment, and the specific Concoction of the Stomach, which is not the Chy∣lus it self: And in the Chylus there is the Substance of Blood, but not the Blood it self: And▪ as these Humors the Chylus and Blood are made by specific Fermen∣tations and Concoctions in the Bowels, design'd for that purpose, of those things which before they were not; in like manner the yellow and bitter Choler▪ is made out of sweet Blood, and acid sple∣nic Juice (of which neither is yellow or bitter, neither of 'em is Choler, or con∣tain any Choler in themselves) being mix'd together in the Liver, and fer∣mented and concocted after a specific Manner: And the chiefest part of it (for some of the thinnest remains mix'd with the Blood, is carried to the Vena Cava and the Heart, is separated from the rest of the Blood, being unfit to be chan∣ged into Choler, and is carried to the Roots of the bilary Vessels, and so by degrees proceeds to the Porus and bilarie Bladder. In like manner as in Chymi∣stry, various Bodies are changed into Metals, which before were not Me∣tals: And out of things void of Colour, mixed and boyling together, a new Co∣lour is raised, which was not in the Sub∣stance

before; as out of white Salt-Tar∣tar, and transparent Spirit of Wine is produced a red Colour. And hence it may be certainly concluded, that there is not any single Separation of Choler pre-existent in the Blood, but a new Generation of Choler which was not be∣fore. As to the Arguments which Mal∣pigius alledges of the pre-existency of Urine in the Blood, and other things too prolix to be here cited, they are not of so much Moment as to prove that pre-existency of Choler in the Blood, and single Separation from it; when as there is not the same Reason for the Separation of the superfluous Se∣rum pre-existent, and the Generation of necessary Choler not pre-existent. Of this see more in C. 10. already cited.

XL. The natural Colour of Choler* 1.365 is yellow, the Tast bitter, and somewhat tart, the Substance Fluid. But by several Causes, all these three in a sick∣ly habit of Body suffer Alteration, as the Blood is either in a bad or good Condition, or the splenetic Iuice con∣veighed to the Liver is more or less Salt, Acid, Sowre, or Austere. For hence arise many preternatural Qualitys of Choler, and as they vary, happen Fevers, Cholerick Distempers, Dysente∣ries, Iaundice, Colic Pains, and several other Diseases. Which Regner Graef affirms to arise only from the Corrupti∣on of the Pancreatic Iuice; but contra∣ry to Experience, for the Dissections of Bodys that have been brought to the Grave by those Diseases, frequently tell us, that when the Sweetbread has been firm and sound, the Cause of the Dis∣ease has lain hid in the Liver, Bladder, and other Bilarie Vessels; tho' we do not deny but that the same Diseases may arise from a vitious Pancreas. Hence there are several Alterations of the Co∣lour of the Choler, which is sometimes Pale, sometimes Saffron Coloured, some∣times Red, sometimes Rust-coloured, and sometimes inclining to Black. Ne∣vertheless Regner de Graef, not conside∣ring the Flux of the splenetic Juice to the Liver, has conceiv'd a quite diffe∣rent Opinion concerning these preterna∣tural Colours: Believing that same va∣riety of Colours happens to the Choler not in the Gall-Bladder, nor in the Cho∣ler Vessels, but in the Duodenum, and that by the Mixture of the Pancreatic, acid or sowre Juice, no otherwise than if it should change its natural Yellow into any other Colour in the Gall-Bladder it self. But in the Dissections of Bodys that have dy'd in our Hospital, we have demonstratively and frequently shewn a Green Eruginous or Rust Coloured, and sometimes a blackish Colour in the Bladder it self before the mixture of the Pancreatic Juice; nay in the Daughter of the Lord V•…•…ich, who dy'd of an Eru∣ginous Flux of the Belly, and after her Death by me dissected in the sight of several Physicians, we found the Gall-Bladder swell'd to the bigness of a Hens Egg, and full of an Eruginous Choler: Which we have also observ'd in some other Infants that have dy'd of the same Diarrhoea, as also in others who have dy'd of the Disease Cholera. So that the various Colours of the Choler do not always proceed from the Mixture of the Pancreatic Iuice in the Intestins, but are often acquired in the Gall-Bladder, and Bilary Vessels, in the same man∣ner as we have already rehearsed. Of which see more in the preceding C. 7.

XLI. But now that the several* 1.366 Humors engendered in the Body being mix'd with the Blood, according to the diversity of Qualitys, occasion a great Variety of Colour, is apparent from these Experiments which we have observ'd in the Gall of an Ox. Which being mix'd with acid things, as Oyle of Vitriol, or Tartar, or Vinegar first boyl'd a little, then growing very thick, became of a green Colour, but being strongly shaken in a Flaggon with these Acids turn'd to a whitish Colour. Be∣ing mix'd with ordinary Cinamon Wa∣ter, it became more Thin, more Yel∣low, and more Fluid: But being mix'd with Spirit of Wine; presently separa∣ted from it, and setled at the Bottom. Lastly, being mixed with fair Water, a little Gall dyed a great deal of Water of a Saffron Colour.

XLII. Of the motion of the Choler* 1.367 we have spoken; that is to say, that some part of it mixed with the Blood, tends from the Liver to the Vena Cava, but that the greatest Part is carried to the Bilary Vessels, and so through the Porus and Gall-Bladder to the Intestines. But the Opinions of others are far different concerning this Matter. Vesalius (following the Judgment of Golen) writes that the Choler is drawn out of the Porus to the Gall-bladder, and from thence is forced down to the In∣testines. But this Opinion fails, because it does not demonstrate the Way thro' which the Choler comes from the Po∣rus to the Gall-bladder. To which it

cannot ascend through the Chanel of the Gall-bladder, and through that de∣scend again from the Gall-bladder to the Intestines, for that in the parts of our Body there is neither any drawing of Humors, nor any natural going and returning the same way. Fallopius l. 3. Observ. c. 7. believes that the Choler of the Liver does not ascend, unless when the Mouth of the common meatus Cho∣lidochus is stopped by some Cause or o∣ther, but that upon such an Occasion it may be done. But the Wrinkles and Narrowness of the Neck of the Gall∣bladder contradict this Opinion, alto∣gether impeding the Ingress of the Cho∣ler ascending this way; so that the Cho∣ler thrust forward from the Gall-blad∣der it self by compressing into the com∣mon Ductus Cholidochus, can by no means be repell'd back into the Gall∣bladder by a contrary Compression of the said Ductus. From these Backius very much differs, Dissert. de corde c. 3. & 6. who asserts that the Choler is carried directly out of the Cystis to the common Ductus Cholidochus, but that the Extremity of it, which ends in the Intestines, is so fram'd, that it does not permit the Exit of the Choler, but rea∣dily gives way to the Chylus descending from the Stomach; and suffers in like manner its ascent to the Liver. And that it communicates as well the Chy∣lus, as more especially a part of the Choler through the same Hole to the Pancreatic Wirtzungian Ductus. But the very Sight it self evinces and destroys the Opinion of Backius, by which it ap∣pears to the Eye in the Dissections of living Animals, that as well the Choler as the Pancreatic Iuice break forth from their own Places into the Duodenum, but that nothing of the Chylus can enter through that way out of the Guts by a contrary Conveighance. Francis de le Boe Sylvius, introduces still another Mo∣tion of the Chylus, and asserts that the Choler which is bred in the Bladder flows to the common Ductus Cholidochus, and is carried from thence partly to the Guts, partly ascends through the bilary Porus to the Liver, and there being mix'd with the Blood renders it more thin; but that no blood flows from the Liver through the Porus to the Intestines. And this in his Additament he proves from hence, because that by blowing through a Reed there is a Passage open from the Porus to the Liver. A most egregious Consequence; and this is such another. The breath blown through a Pipe into the Ureter, passes into the Kid∣ney, and farther into the Emulgent Vein, and Vena Cava, therefore the Urinous Serum is carried out of the Bladder through the Ureter to the Kidney. Cer∣tainly it would be very strange, if the Choler which is bred in the Liver, and from thence once empty'd into the Ve∣sicle, should return through the Porus to the Liver. But the Falshood of this Opinion appears from many things al∣ready said. First from the rare Consti∣tution of the Gall Vessels: And the Force of it is quite enervated by the Experiment of the perspicacious Malpi∣gius, l. de hep. c. 7. In a Cat, saith he, of a few Months old, where the Gall-blad∣der is conspicuously prominent, I have ty'd the Neck of the Cystis with a Thread, and empty'd it out of a Wound in the Middle. Then have I again bound the Extremity of the Ductus Cholidochus, where it opens into the Intestin: Then the Creature still living for some convenient space of time, I have found the intercep∣ted bilary Porus extreamly swell'd, and a Portion of the common Ductus Cholido∣chus. And that I might prevent all Pos∣sibility of Separating the Choler by the help of the Cystis, after I had first ty'd a hard Knot in the Neck of it, I cut off the Cystis it self, and threw it away. And yet I found the same Swelling follow in the hollow'd Pores by reason of the flowing Choler. Moreover I try'd with my Fin∣ger to drive upward the Choler contained in the Vessels that so swell'd, yet would it return with a Force, nor could be kept back unless with an extraordinary Violence. A little after he adds, It is most certain, from many times repeated Observation, that the Extremity of the Cystic Passage being bound, so that not the least part of the Substance of the Cystis or of its Neck, re∣main beyond the Ligature, but that only the common Ductus Cholidochus, and the bilary Porus may run directly toward the Intestines; and then tying another Knot near the Jejunum, a remarkable Quantity of Choler will be collected toge∣ther, and evacuated out of a small Wound made beyond the Ligature in the mid Way; which Knot may be several times unty'd, that the Porus Bilarius being plen∣tifully fill'd may be emptied again.

XLIII. To which Experiment may be added three or four Observations of Riolanus, Anthropog. l. 2. c. 22. From whence it appears as plain as Day, that the Choler flowing from the Gall-bladder never ascends tho∣rough the Bilary Porus to the Liver; And that no Choler often descends from

the bladder, yet in the interim flows in great quantity from the Liver through the Poras Communis to the Intestines, and therein, if it be endu'd with bad qua∣lities, produces Diarrhoeas, Dysenteries, the Disease Cholera, cruel Gripings, and other Distempers.

XLIV. Concerning the use of the* 1.368 Bladder, there have been hitherto great Disputes among the most Emi∣nent Doctors. Aristotle thought it to be separated from the Blood, as a meer noxious Excrement; whose Opi∣nion is followed by many. And hence it is that Bauhinus, Anat. l. 1. c. 45. makes a doubt whether the Collection of the Choler in the Bladder be necessary to Life; when the ancients affirm'd the cause of long life to be the emptiness of the Gall-bladder, deducing their Argu∣ment from Harts, that have no Gall, and yet live long. Haly Abbas, and A∣vicen, say that it heats and strengthens the Liver, and helps its Concoction. Zirbus writes, that it defends the Liver and other parts from Putrefaction. Which Opinion, tho' it be exploded by Vesalius, yet does it not displease Riolanus. Hel∣mont asserts it to be the Balsom of the Liver, and all the Blood. Glisson asserts that it does not only preserve the Liver from Putrefaction, but prevents its Ob∣structions, purifies the Blood, and hin∣ders its Coagulation. Veslingius also says that it preserves the very Chylus from Putrefaction. Many Neoterics, accord∣ing to the Opinion of Galen, have de∣sign'd only to promote the Evacuation of the Excrements out of the Guts; which Bartholine says, are thereby made fluid, and fit for motion. And thus all have made a doubt concerning the Use of this Noble Juice, which is found to be want∣ing in no Man, and which no Man can live without: and of which Fernelius writes, that many People have dy'd, in whom there has been found no other cause of their Death, than that the Gall-bladder was altogether empty of Gall.

XLV. Manifest therefore it is, that* 1.369 Choler has a more noble Use, than hi∣therto has been ascrib'd to it by Physici∣ans and Philosophers. And indeed the chiefest Use of it is to be service∣able to Fermentation. Of which more at large c. 17.

CHAP. XVI. Of the Spleen.

I. THE Spleen, call'd by the* 1.370 Latines Splen, by the Greeks 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, is an Organic Part, or Bowel seated in the left Hypochondrium, under the Diaphragma, between the Stomach and the Ribs.

II. It is very rare, or rather prodi∣gious,* 1.371 as both Aristotle and Pliny te∣stifie, that the Spleen should change places with the Liver, that is, that this should be in the left, and the other in the right Hypochondrium, which nevertheless has been observ'd by Cor∣nelius Gemma, and Talentonius. And such an unusual Accident Cattierus de∣scribes; and Bartholine relates two or three Histories to the same purpose, Ob∣servat. Anat. Rar. Cent. 2. Hist. Also it is as unusual for the Spleen to be wanting; which defect nevertheless Hollerias re∣ports that he saw in a certain Woman, and was found in Ortelius, as has been said c. 14. Andrew Laurentius also makes mention of a Body dissected at Pa∣ris, that had no Spleen; in which the Splenetick Branch ended in a small Glan∣dulous Body. Thus Kerckringius in his Anat. Observ. writes, that in two Births dissected at Amsterdam, he observ'd the Spleen to be wanting. Aristotle also te∣stifies that the Spleen is wanting in several Creatures, L. 3. de part. Animal. All Creatures, saith he, that have Blood have a Liver, but all have not a Spleen. And c. 24. All most perfect Creatures only have a Spleen. Thus Riolanus, following A∣ristotle's Opinion, Creatures that have none or very small Lungs, have none or a very small Spleen. Ent also in Apolog. writes that he has observ'd several Birds to have no Spleen.

III. In Men it is generally but one,* 1.372 and seldom exceeds that number. Ne∣vertheless Cabrolius, Observ. 15. as also Posthius, and Dominic de Marchettis, have fo•…•…nd two. Fallopius observes, in Observ. that he has seen three; frequently in Dogs there are two, not so often three; une∣qual in bigness; out of each of which there is a vessel extended to the Splene∣tick branch. And the same thing per∣haps may fall out in other Creatures. For Aristotle de Generat. Animal. l. 4. c. 4. writes that some brute Creatures have a

double Spleen; and that some have none at all.

IV. The Convex part of it is knit* 1.373 to the Diaphragma, not so fast and tite as the Liver, but superficially, as also to the left Kidney by small mem∣branous Fibres springing from the Pe∣ritonaeum. And yet in Novemb. 1668. we found so fast a Connexion of it to the Diaphragma, the left Kidney, and the left Lobe of the Liver, extended so far, that the Connexion could hardly be se∣ver'd without dilaceration: but this rare∣ly happens. The flat part adheres to the Caul, and the adjoyning Parts, and be∣ing so bound, in sane bodies seldom de∣scends beyond the lowest Rib: but the Li∣gaments being loosen'd, it is felt in a lower place, to the great disturbance of health; but the Ligaments being quite broken, som∣times it slides down into the Hypogastri∣•…•…m; which Cabrolius observ'd to have hap∣pened to a certain Noble Man; whose Spleen swam upon the whole Concavity of his belly * 1.374 And which by Riolanus was seen in a Parisian Woman, whose Spleen rested upon her Womb, and for two years deceiv'd the Physicians, who took it for a Mole; whereas when the dead body was open'd, the cause of the Swelling, and the Womans Death, were both found together to have proceeded from the Spleens being fall'n down out of its place.

V. The bigness of the Spleen in* 1.375 Men is various, according to the di∣versity of Bodies and Constitutions. For generally it is six Inches long, three broad, and about the thickness of the Thumb. I•…•… diseased bodies it some∣times grows to an enormous bigness; so that its protuberancy beyond the Ribs may be both felt and seen. The•…•… that inhabit moist Regions and Fenny Places, have large Spleens. Lindan reports also, That the Common People of Friezland, that use for their common Drink sowre Butter-milk, have great Livers. In the Year 1657. I dissected a body, wherein I found a four square hard Spleen, about the bigness of a mans head. Fernelius also writes that there was a Liver seen, that for bulk and quantity exceeded the Liver. Wepfer found a Spleen in the bo∣dy of a Noble Woman, that in length exceeded five hands breadth, four in breadth, and one and a half in thickness, and weighed about six common pounds, and so exceeded the Liver in bigness. Aetius l. 7. c. 10, 16. writes, that in Sple∣netic Persons this Bowel sometimes reach∣es in length to the Groins, and with its breadth touches the Liver. Such great Spleens as these Vesalius also and Mar∣cellus Donatus testifie that they have seen themselves. And Cabrolius makes men∣tion of one that weigh'd five pounds. Schenkius also relates out of Gamerus the Story of one that weigh'd three and twenty pound. But such prodigious bulks are very unusual. In the mean time, the more preternaturally big this Bowel is, the worse it is with the Patient whose body is the more extenuated thereby, because it does not afford mat∣ter sufficient to accomplish convenient Fermentation in the Liver, of which the blood being destitute, cannot be attenu∣ated and brought to persection as it ought to be; but is left, sowre, acid, thick, and otherwise unprofitable for the Nourish∣ment of the Parts. From whence arises the Scurvy, as Hippocrates first observ'd, l. 2. Poreth. They, saith he, are troubled with bad Gums, and stinking Breaths, who have large Spleens: but they who having large Spleens are subject to bleed, and yet have no ill smell in their mouths, they are troubled with bad Ulcers and black Spots in their Legs.

VI. Spigelius has observ'd, That* 1.376 they who have large Veins, have larger Spleens, and therefore lean People are more subject to swoll'n Spleens than they who are fat.

VII. Rarely the Spleen is less than* 1.377 its natural proportion, and yet I re∣member some Examples of such. 1. Vi∣dus Vidius the younger, L. 12. de Cu∣rat. Morb. c. 10. in the Body of a Man very cachectic, found a Spleen no big∣ger than a Pigeons Egg, almost as hard as a Stone. 2. Salmuth Cent. 2. Ob∣serv. 21. in a Woman that dyed in Child-bed, otherwise very healthy while she lived, had found a Spleen so small, that it hardly exceeded the bigness of a Man's Thumb. 3. Riolanus also reports that the Spleen of Thuanus the Historian hardly weigh'd an Ounce. 4. Conringius asfirms, that hardly any footstep of a Spleen appeared in the Princess of Luxem∣burgh.* 1.378

VIII. The shape of it is oblong, like an Oxe's Tongue, whence some have

call'd it the Tongue-Bowel, as being not unlike it in Oxen, Dogs, and ma∣ny other Brutes: it is somewhat full of Crinkles within side; but the outside is somewhat bunchy or bossie. But in Man the shape of it is found to receive sundry Figures: as being in some tri∣angular, in others gibbous, square, round, sharp pointed; and in others distinguish'd into Lobes. The upper∣most and thicker part of it is call'd by Hippocrates and Ruffus the Head, the thinner part the Tail.

IX. The Colour in a Child in the* 1.379 Womb is ruddy; in Persons grown up to maturity of a lead Colour, or black and bluish. And Spigelius has ob∣serv'd it, and sh•…•…wn it in dissection of grown Persons, when it has been as red as the Liver, which has been also observ'd by Vesalius, Bauhinus, and Conringius. The cause of which va∣riety of Colour proceeds from variety of Dyet, and alteration of Temper and Heat; for thereby is caus'd a great alte∣ration of the Humors of the whole Bo∣dy, and so of those Humours that are carried to the Spleen, whence the variety of Colour.* 1.380

X. It is surrounded with a double Membrane; one exterior from the Peritonaeum; the other thin and pro∣per to it self, proceeding from the ex∣terior Membranes of the Vessels en∣tring the Spleen, and interwoven with a neat and wonderful contexture of Fibres. Which Tunicles or Membranes have their Arteries, Veins, and Nerves from those that pass through the inner Substance.

Malpigius l. de Lien. c. 1. remarks a wonderful hardness of the inner Mem∣brane, not yet observ'd by Us. It is ob∣serv'd, says he, by many, that that Mem∣brane becomes bony; and Boschius has seen it so hard toward the Muscles of the Abdomen, that he suspected some scyr∣rhosity to be within it. And many times, especially in Sheep, I have observ'd little Stones of a Pargetty Substance, Ulcers •…•…all'd Melicerides, and other Tumours, proceeding perhaps from the various conglutinating matter breaking forth from the Extremities of the Vessels. In the next Chapter he writes, that he himself once saw that Cartilaginous or Gristly Membrane in an Ox, and that the same was observ'd by Spigelius.

XI. Between both Membranes shoot* 1.381 forth various Lymphatic Vessels, like a kind of a Net, furnish'd with seve∣ral Valves, which according to the ob∣servation of Malpigius, contain a yel∣lowish or somewhat reddish Liquor, but by my own, and the observation of o∣thers, a Limpid, and by conspicuous passages carried through the Cawle, cast forth into the Receptacle of the Chylus. All which arise from many very small conglomerated Kernels contain'd in the Spleen.* 1.382

XII. It is also furnish'd with innu∣merable Fibres thin and strong, com∣pos'd of little Strings twisted together with a wonderful piece of Workman∣ship, without any hollowness in them∣selves. Glisson indeed attributes some∣thing of hollowness to 'em, and mis∣guided by that Error, that he thought they contributed to conveigh the Ali∣mentary Juice to the Nerves. Malpigi∣us altogether doubtful as to their Cavity, confesses he could not perceive it, and yet leaves it to more piercing and fortunate Inventions to determine the matter. O∣thers, less accurate Inspectors, believ'd those Fibres to be a Contexture of the smallest Sanguiferous Vessels.

XIII. Besides the foremention'd* 1.383 Lymphatic Vessels conspicuous among the Tunicles, it receives also other Vessels, as Arteries, Veins, and Nerves, dispers'd thorough its whole Body.

XIV. It is watered with two Arte∣ries,* 1.384 one entring the upper part, the other the lower part: which Malpigi∣us observ'd to enter the Parenchyma, or Substance of the Spleen in an Ox and Sheep with one Branch, but in a Dog, a Horse, and several other Crea∣tures, with three or four Branches. These Arteries are carried from the Branch of the left Coeliaca, which they call the Splenetick Artery, and sometimes from a certain Branch going forth from the Trunk of the Aorta, and with a winding Course proceeding to the Spleen by the side of the Pancre∣as, and being there divided into a thousand Branches, are dispers'd all over it. Through these Arteries the Blood is forc'd, for which if there be not a passage sufficiently free, to the Roots of the Veins and the Splenetick

Branch, so that it comes to boyl too much in the Spleen, there happens a Pul∣sation in the Spleen no less than that in the Arteries. Of which Tulpius relates a miraculous Story, L. 2. Observ. 28. of a Pulsation of the Liver that was heard at the distance of thirty foot.

XV. It sends forth a great Vein* 1.385 from the flat part, call'd the Splenetic Branch, which sticks close to the Pa∣renchyma with numberless Roots, out of which insensibly closing together, sometimes three, sometimes four or more greater Branches are found, by and by concurring altogether into that one Splenetick Branch which runs forth athwart under the Ventricle, through the upper parts of the Caul, to the Vena Portae, and discharges it self into it.

XVI. Highmore denies so many* 1.386 Veins, or that they run so far into the Bowel, and asserts the numerous San∣guiferous Vessels to be only little Branches of the Arteries dispers'd through the whole Bowel, and believes the Anatomists to be deceiv'd, as mi∣staking Fibres for Veins. But this same Bowel, of so remarkable a bigness, in respect of its Function, cannot but have many blood-bearing Vessels of both sorts, which tho' they can hardly be demon∣strated perfectly distinct, yet may they be comprehended by the Understanding. For if there be so many Arteries that pour blood into the Bowel, there must be also many Veins to assume that infus'd Blood, and to carry it into the Splenetick Branch; for otherwise there would be a Restagnation of the blood, and conse∣quently a Tumor and Inflammation of the Bowel.

XVII. Highmore hath also observ'd* 1.387 in the said Veins at the Exit out of the Spleen, certain little Valves looking forth from the Spleen, and soplac'd, as to suffer nothing to flow from the Splene∣tick Branch to the Spleen, but only the Humours from the Spleen into the Splenetick Branch. Which Valves, tho' by reason of their extraordinary thinness, they can hardly be demonstra∣ted, yet are they presently perceiv'd, so soon as the Splenetick Branch is puff't up, or that Water be injected into it through a Syringe; for then they hinder the breath and the water from penetrating into the Spleen.

XVIII. Bauhlnus, Bartholine, and* 1.388 some others write, that in the inner part of the Bowel, several Branches of Arteries close together with the ends of the Veins by Anastomoses, by which means the Blood is transfus'd out of them into these; and so flow to the Splenetick Branch. But this seems not so probable, seeing that the blood in such a Passage or Transfusion only can∣not acquire a requisite subacid fermenta∣tive quality. And hence it is necessary, that that transfusion of the blood be made by some interceding Medium (as happens in the Liver, of which we shall say more below, when we come to dis∣course of the Function of the Spleen. In the mean while one remarkable Anasto∣mosis is to be observ'd (rarely two) by which the Trunk of the Artery, before it enters the Spleen, closes with the Sple∣netick Branch. Which seems to be form'd to that end, partly that the Arterious Blood▪ by its mixture, may render the Humours more fluid that are carried out of the Spleen to the Splenetic Branch, and excite 'em to more speedy motion. Partly, that the redundant and superfluous blood, which by reason of the narrowness of the Passages cannot pass with that requisite swiftness through the Spleen, may flow through this Anastomosis into the Sple∣netick Branch.

XIX. Now there is a Vessel call'd* 1.389 Vas venosum breve, which enters the Splenetick Branch, not far from, or rather just at its going forth, frequent∣ly in Man at the very Exit of the Branch out of the Spleen; in Beasts, a little farther off, the Roots of which Vessel sticking to the Ventricle, meet together about the bottom of it, seldom joyning into one, frequently into two or more Chanels, and so constitute sometimes one, sometimes two or three Vasa brevia, which all shoot forth in∣to the Splenetick Branch. In Dogs and other brute Beasts, rarely one, frequent several Vasa brevia, descend into the said Splenetick Vessel.

XX. Sometimes a certain Vein as∣cending* 1.390 upwards from the inner part of the Podex, enters the Splenetick Branch at the lower part, and pours forth its blood into it. The Roots of which adhering to the inner part of the Podex, are call'd Venae Haemorrhoi∣dales internae, the Internal Haemor∣rhoidal

Veins, of which nevertheless the Trunk is most frequently inserted into the le•…•…t Mesenteric Vein. These Ves∣sels, that is to say Arteries and Veins, be∣fore their Entrance, are covered with a double Tunicle; the outermost of which they put off when they enter, and cast next about the Spleen, and by that means the Tunicle of the Spleen is made out of it.

XXI. Besides the forementioned* 1.391 Vessels carrying manifest Humours, some there are who tell us of milkie Vessels. But it is most certain that no milkie Vessels shoot forth to the Spleen. For if the Chylus were carried thi∣ther, it would run the hazard of a Coa∣gulation, by reason of the acidity of the Splenetick Liquor. And there∣fore they are also mistaken who think that part of the Chylus ascends from the Vena Portae, through the Splenetic Branch to the Spleen, as was former∣ly asserted by the Ancients, and lately by Ent, Apolog. Art. 23. But through that Branch, as well the blood that remains out of the Nourishment of the Stomach, as that which is after a pe∣culiar manner concocted in the Spleen is swiftly carried through the Vena Portae and the Liver. Which is most apparent in the Dissections of living A∣nimals by a knot fasten'd upon that Branch. For presently a swelling will arise between the Ligature and the Spleen, and a lankness toward the Vena Portae. Which Ligature, if it be ty'd in live Dogs, somewhat before the En∣trance of the Vas breve into the Splene∣tick Branch, then the swelling will ap∣pear between the Spleen and the Liga∣ture, and the lankness on the other side. Which is a certain sign, that none of the thinnest Chylus, which nevertheless Regi∣us inculcates is carried from the Stomach to the Spleen through Vas venosum breve, or other Gastric Vessels, to be there al∣ter'd into a fermentaceous matter; but that the venal blood only descends from the Ventricle through that Vessel, and flows directly through the Splenetick Branch to the Vena Portae. Moreover if the said Ligature be ty'd upon the Vas breve it self, then are we taught another thing; for then presently the swelling ap∣pears between the Ligature and the Ves∣sel, and the lankness toward the Splene∣tick Branch. By which it is plain, that the blood descends from the Veins of the Ventricle, as has been said, but that no Melancholy or Acid Juice ascends this way to the Ventricle, and is pour'd forth to create hunger, according to the Asser∣tion of the Ancients. Lastly, if the short Vessel be open'd by Incision above the Ligature, and the Liquor flowing out be taken up in a Spoon, any man may see that it is only the pure Venal Blood, with∣out any mixture of Chylus; and that it differs not a jot either in Substance or in Colour, from any other Venal Blood; and this whether you look upon it warm or cold. Which plainly overthrows the Opinion of those, who affirm part of the Chylus to be carried to the Spleen through those Passages. An Opinion which we have sufficiently refuted in the seventh Chapter above.

XXII. Besides the foresaid Vessels,* 1.392 the Spleen also receives two little Branches of Nerves, deriv'd from the Costal Branch of the sixth Pair, which do not only pass through the out∣ward Tunicle, and not lose them∣selves there, as was formerly thought by many, but penetrating further in∣ward, are distributed through the innermost parts of the Bowel, with a manifold Ramification, which little Branches accompany the Blood-bearing Vessels, and are enfolded in the same Covering with them, being form'd out of the proper Membrane that covers the Spleen, which at the entrance of the Vessels turning inward, and shap'd into the fashion of a Pipe, accompanies, and as it were gathers into a Bundle the Ramifications of the said Vessels Glisson also observes that these Nerves, the nearer they approach to the Spleen, the larger they grow; as they likewise do in a little space after they have en∣ter'd the Spleen.

XXIII. Moreover, Glisson writes,* 1.393 that the ends of these Nerves are uni∣ted with Nervous Fibres, and by that means a certain Alimentary Li∣quor is infus'd out of the one into the other, and carried from these to the greater Nerves (which Alimentary Liquor, he says withal, is pour'd forth through the Parenchyma of the Spleen, being first extended by the Fibres themselves) afterwards this Liquor is conveigh'd into the Folding of the Nerves adjoyning to the Renal Glan∣dules, from thence, as occasion shall

serve, to be distributed into all the Nerves of the Body, either immedi∣ately through the Nerves of the sixth Pair, or by the means of the Brain and Spinal Marrow; and so to be carried to all parts of the Body. But the most learned Person is in this par∣ticular altogether out of the way. For, as has been said, the Fibres are not hollow, nor have the Nerves sufficient Cavities through which any Liquor pre∣pared in the Spleen can pass: nor was e∣ver any Anatomist so quick-sighted as to see any Liquor in the Nerves, or that after Dissection could squeez the least drop out of 'em. Besides, it is un∣questionable, and no more than what is receiv'd and establish'd by all Philoso∣phers, that the Animal Spirits are thrust forward through the Invisible Pores of the Nerves from the Brain and oblong Marrow into all the parts of the Body: Now then, shall any other visible Ali∣mentary Liquor, thicker than the Spi∣rits, ascend from the Spleen to the Brain, or its Marrow through the same Invisi∣ble Pores by any other Chanel or Stream? Will the Nerves receive the Alimenta∣ry Juice from the Spleen into themselves, not only to be cast forth into other parts, but also to be remitted back into the Spleen it self? Shall at another time the smallest drop of Liquor falling upon the Nerves beget a Palsie, and shall this en∣tring in abundance out of the Spleen pro∣duce no harm? These are very great Absurdities, and therefore an Opinion supported by such slender Props must fall of Necessity. See more of this L. 8. c. 1.

XXIV. Here some one perhaps may* 1.394 put the Question how it comes to pass, that the Spleen furnish'd with so ma∣ny little Branches of Nerves should be so dull of Feeling, seeing that the Nerves are not only endued with a most quick Sense, but also contribute to all the membranous Parts by the animal Spirits a most acute Feeling? The reason of this is, because there is a continual Numness upon those Nerves occasioned by the subacid Substance of the Spleen, which is perceived in the Tast of the Spleen being boyl'd, and Sowre withal, as also by acid fermenta∣tive Iuice which is bred therein, en∣compassing the Nerves. As the chew∣ing of acid and sowre things begets a Numness in the Teeth, so that their Sense of Feeling is much less, or at least more obtuse than at another time.

And thus much concerning the Ves∣sels, whose State and Condition, how they were found out by accurate In∣spection into the Spleen of an Ox, Malpigius describes l. de lien. c. 3.

XXV. After the Fibres and the* 1.395 Vessels, the Substance it self of the Spleen is to be enquired into; which in a sound Spleen is somewhat hard and firm; and endures handling without any harm; but in a sickly Condition of Health grows softer and is easily dissolv'd. Thus in Scorbu∣tic and Hypochondriacal Persons I have often found it so soft upon Dissection, that with the least Touch the Finger would enter into it: And the external Air would easily dissolve it; tho' out∣wardly at first sight there was nothing to be discovered amiss either in Bigness or Colour. I dissected a Scorbutic Thief that was hang'd in March 1651. The Substance of whose Spleen was very soft; yet neither exceeding due Proportion nor ill Colour; and at that time, being cold Weather, within two days, it was dis∣solved by the external Air into a fro∣thy Liquor of an obscure red Colour, so that unless it were several Fibres and thin Vessels, there was nothing solid appeared within its Membrane. From whence appears the Mistake of many, who in the Scurvy and Hypochondriacal Distemper, Quartan Agues, and other Diseases arising from the Spleen, always lay the Fault upon the Obstruction, Hardness, and Tumor of this Bowel, when for the most part there is never∣theless no such Fault in it to be found in those that dye of those Distempers, and only some specific Dyscrasis or peculiar Disposition of the Part receding from its natural Sanity, are the cause of these Distempers; while that peculiar Indis∣position begets some Matter either too Acid or too Sharp, too weak or too fix'd, or some other way out of Order. Yet we do not deny but that in a preterna∣tural State, sometimes it becomes so brawny and hard, that it may be felt without side of the Body. Nay George Queccius, a Physician of Norimberg and Schenckius, have seen Spleens that have been crusted in the Middle with a Car∣tilaginous Substance.

XXVI. Many have affirm'd that* 1.396 this Substance is like the Substance of the Liver, and that this Bowel per∣forms the same Office with it, and that when that Bowel is out of Order,

this Bowel alone does its Duty. But the Dissimilitude of each Part is suf∣ficiently apparent both from the Colour and the Tast. For the Colour, which in a raw Liver is Ruddy and altoge∣ther Sanguine, in the Spleen is Black and Blue, or of a leaden Colour. And that which in a boyl'd or roasted Liver is somewhat Yellowish, in a roasted Spleen is like the Dreggs of red Wine. Then the Tast of a boyl'd Liver is be∣tween bitterish and sweetish; the Tast of a boyl'd Spleen is somewhat acid and sowrish.

XXVII. It is commonly held, that* 1.397 the Substance of the Spleen is a cer∣tain Mass of clotted Blood, suppor∣ting the Vessels that run through it; because it is easily made fluid by a slight Attrition. But Malpigius, ut∣terly destroys this Opinion, who ha∣ving accurately searched into the My∣steries of this Bowel with his Micro∣scopes, writes that the whole Body of the Spleen is a membranous Mass di∣stinguished into little Cells and Apart∣ments, and not so thick a Body as it has been formerly describ'd to be, but loose and thin. And to this Know∣ledg he attain'd by a particular Experi∣ment: That is by blowing up the Spleen through the Splenetic Artery and Branch, till it was very much swollen, and drying it swell'd as it was; for so, he says, it may be plainly seen, that the whole Mass of the Spleen consists of Mem∣branous Ends or Cells like the Cells of Hony-combs. And as for the Original of these Cells, and their wonderful Structure, he elegantly and at large de∣scribes it in his Book de Liene, where it is to be read.

XXVIII. The same Malpigius was* 1.398 the first that observed in the Sub∣stance of the Spleen several little Glandules worthy Observation: Of which he thus writes. In the Spleen, says he, are to be observ'd several nu∣merous Clusters of little Glandules, or ra∣ther little Bladders or Baggs dispersed through the whole Spleen, that resemble a Cluster of Grapes exactly. The least of these Glandules are of an Oval Figure, and in bigness little differ from the▪ Glan∣dules of the Kidneys. Their Colour as I have always observ'd, is White; and al∣tho' the Vasa Sanguinea of the Spleen by the pouring in of Ink swell and play a∣bout 'em, these preserve the same Colour. Their Substance seems to be Membranous; but soft and subject to crumble. Their Hollowness by reason of their extraordina∣ry Smallness, is not perceptible to the Eye, and only to be apprehended by Conjecture▪ while being slit they seem to fall one into another. They are very numerous and almost innumerable, and are wonderfully placed in the forementioned Cells of the whole Spleen, where vulgarly its Paren∣chyma is said to be. Also from the Slips there hang little Boxes, or else from the Fibres that arise from it: And besides the ends of the Arteries like young Vine Shoots, or crawling Ivy creep about 'em, which is to be observ'd in a fresh Splee•…•…, the Arteries being blacken'd. They hang for the most part in Clusters, every Cluster containing seven or eight. Yet they do not so easily appear in the Spleen of every Creature. Nay in the Spleen of an Ox, a Sheep, or a Goat, they are only to be dis∣covered upon Laceration of the Bowel; or by a slight shaving with a Penkife, and long washing with fair Water. They are not so eas•…•…ly discrib'd in a Man. But if by the occasion of any Disease the whole Body of the▪ Glandules swell, they appear more manifest, being enlarg'd in Bigness, as I observ'd in a Girl that dy'd, whose Spleen was full of little Globes dispersed in Clusters. More than this in the same place he tells ye his Opinion of the Use of Glandules, and what separation of Humors is made therein in a Discourse at large.

Certainly we are much indebted to this quicksighted Malpigius, who by his Microscopes, has so clearly dispell'd the thick Clouds that hung over the Knowledg of the Spleen, to the end the use of it, which was doubtful before, may be the better understood.

XXIX. Sometimes unusual things* 1.399 have been found in the Spleen, Vesa∣lius l. 19. de Corp. fab. c. 9. writes that he found in the Spleen of a cer∣tain Person, small enough, but of an extraordinary Hardness, Fat growing to the gibbous or bunchy Part, com∣pacted together like a hard white Stone. Schenkius, Observ. l. 3. relates that there was found in the Body of a Spoletan Lord a Spleen without any Juice or Pulp at all, empty like a Purse, and fix'd to the left Ribs. T•…•…rneiferus in Exam. Urin. writes that he found a Stone in the Spleen of a certain noble Woman, of the Bigness of a Chestnut, soft as Alabaster, weighing two Oun∣ces and five Drams, consisting as it were

of thin places wrapt one within another like Eggshels. In like manner Fallopius has observed Stones to be bred in the Spleen. In the Year 1667. in Ianuary, we dissected a Woman in the presence of several Spectators, whose Spleen was exact, as to its Proportion, and for heat and hardness well enough; but in the fore-part, where it looks toward the Stomach, we observ'd a white Sub∣stance much different from the Substance of the Bowel, hard and firm, and which would scarce give way to the crushing of the Fingers, about the bigness of a Goose Egg, not growing withoutside to the Bowel, nor swelling outward from it, but plainly and truly continuous with it, and being a part of it, tho' no∣thing like the other Particles of the Bow∣el; neither could it be called Fat or a Glandule, from whose Service it differ'd altogether.

XXX. Concerning the Temper of* 1.400 the Spleen, some question whether it be to be call'd a hot or a cold Part? To which I answer that it ought to be call'd a cold Part. Not that it is really cold, but less hot than the Heart, Liver, and many other Bowels; and besides, because it refrigerates the arte∣rious Blood that flows into it, and makes it subacid; and fixes and dulls its sulphury hot Particles, and deprives 'em of all their Volatilitie.

XXXI. Concerning the Action of* 1.401 the Spleen, various are the Opinions of the Learned.

Erasistratus, and Ruffus the Ephesian will allow it no Office or Function. A∣ristotle affirms it to be necessary by Acci∣dent, like the Excrements of the Belly and Bladder. Hippocrates calls the Spleen a Fountain of Water. And hence perhaps Wharton affirms that it sucks forth a watry Liquor out of the Blood, but to what end cannot be discovered, unless it be for the Nourishment of the Nerves: Which Opinion we have suf∣ficiently refuted; to which he adds se∣veral other things of little Moment con∣cerning the use of the Spleen.

XXXII. Many according to the* 1.402 Opinion of Galen and the Ancients, believed the Office of it to be, to se∣parate the feculent or melancholy part of the Chylus, and to attract it through the splenetic▪ Branch, and to collect it into its self (as the Gall-bladder re∣ceives the yellow Choler) and to con∣coct it somwhat, than to empty it a∣gain partly through the Vas Breve into the Stomach to excite Hunger, and partly through the splenetic Branch into the Intestins, and through the Haemorrhoidal Vein to the Podex. Which Opinion Bauhi∣nus, Riolan, and Bartholine, have refuted by many and almost the same Reasons; tho' there were little need of so many, when these three are sufficient to destroy it. 1. Because there is no such large Hollowness in the Spleen, where such Excrement should be stor'd up. 2. Because there is no way through which it may be commodiously evacu∣ated, since it neither ought nor can pass and repass through the same Splenetic Branch. 3. Because if in a living Ani∣mal you tye a Knot upon the Splenetic Vein, the Vas venosum breve, and the Haemorrhoidal Vein, it demonstrates the contrary, as we have already shown, which Demonstration alone is sufficient to destroy that fond Opinion.

XXXIII. Vesalius, Plater, Charles* 1.403 Piso, Bauhin, Spigelius, Jessenus, and many others, affirm'd the Spleen to be a sanguifying Bowel, no less than the Liver, and call'd it, as A∣ristotle does, Hepar Vicarium, the Deputy-Liver: believing when the Liver was distempered, that this Bow∣el did execute its Office. Chiefly en∣duc'd by this Argument, because the Spleen in the Birth is of a ruddy Colour, just like the Liver, and for that the Spleen being deprav'd, San∣guification is annoy'd. Then they thought, that that same Blood which was made in the Spleen serv'd for the Nourishment of Bowels contain'd in the Abdomen, as the Liver-blood serves for the Nourishment of the rest of the Parts. Which splenetick Blood they affirm'd was made of the watry feculent Chylus, which some believe to be car∣ried thither through the Milkie Vessels, others from the Stomach through the Vas Breve, and others, that it was at∣tracted by the Spleen through the Sple∣netic Branch. But this Opinion by ma∣ny things already said, is most plainly overturned: Seeing the Work of San∣guification is not accomplished either by the Liver or the Spleen, but only by the Heart: there being no Vessels that proceed from the Liver through which any Blood can conveniently flow to the Nourishment of the Parts seated in the

Abdomen: Neither are there any Pas∣sages that convey the Chylus to the Spleen, as being a Part to which no Milkie Vessels run: Neither is any thing carried through the Vas venosum breve from the Stomach; seeing that the said Vas breve is not inserted into the Spleen, but into the Splenetic Branch without the Spleen; nor can any Attraction be made of the Splenetic Branch toward the Spleen, as is before prov'd. Veslin∣gius therefore observing this Difficulty of the Access of the Chylus, flyes to the Invisible Pores of the Ventricle; through which he says, there is a watry Chylus conveighed to the Spleen; but proves it by no Reasons. Lastly this Opinion is totally refuted by the circular Moti∣on of the Blood, by which it is appa∣rent that no Blood is carried to the Parts from the Liver or Spleen through the Veins for the Ends of Nutrition; nor can be carried by any manner of Means by reason of the obstructing Valves; but that the Boold is all trans•…•…uted from the Heart through the Arteries to all the Parts.

XXXIV. Emilius Parisanus, Sub∣til.* 1.404 l. 6. Exercit. 2. c. 3. following the Opinion of Ulmus, believes that the Spleen prepares Arterious Blood out of the best part of the Chylus for the left Ventricle of the Heart; which Blood is carried through the Arteries into the Aorta, and thence into the left Ventricle of the Heart. Which Fiction Ent deservedly derides and explodes, Apolog. Artic. 23. Galen also writes, that some of the Scholars of Erasistratus believ'd that the whole Chy∣lus was carried to the Spleen, by which it was made into a courser sort of Blood for the Liver. But both these Opinions are so absurd, that if we only consider the Passages and Motion of the Blood, they want no farther Refutation.

XXXV. Walaeus observing that* 1.405 there was no motion of the Humours through the Splenetick Branch to the Spleen, nor that any milkie Vessels reach'd thither, concluded rightly, that the matter concocted in the Spleen is Arterial Blood infus'd into it through the Coeliaca. Only in this he fail'd, that he thought the Spleen at∣tracted to it self the acid part of the blood, and not the rest, as if the Spleen being endu'd with judgment and taste, was more pleas'd with the acid than the sweet part, and not only could distin∣guish, but knew how to separate the one from the other. Moreover, he consi∣der'd not, that in Arterial Blood there are no Particles actually acid, but that acid Particles are generated in the Spleen out of the saltest Particles of it, which being mix'd with the Venal Blood, serve instead of a Ferment, whose slightest aci∣dity concocted in a specific manner in the Liver with the sulphurous Particles, changes it into a biliary Ferment, which by that Effervescency that is made in the Heart, perishes again and vanishes.

XXXVI. Glisson asserts that the* 1.406 chief Action of the Spleen is to make Alimentary Liquor for the Nou∣rishment of the Nerves, which Opini∣on we rejected when we discours'd of the Nerves of the Spleen.

XXXVII. As for Helmont's Opi∣nion,* 1.407 who places the seat of the sensi∣tive Soul in the Spleen, it is not worth a Refutation.

XXXVIII. The most accurate and* 1.408 industrious Malpigius, being very much dissatisfied concerning the Action and Use of the Spleen, to the end he might be able to assert something more certain than others had done, resolv'd to try an ingenious Experiment, hoping thereby to discover some light in this obscure darkness.

In a young Dog (says he) having made a wound in the left Hypochondrium, the bloody Vessels of the Spleen bursting forth at the gates of the Spleen, were ty'd with a string, then thrusting back what was coming forth into their places, the Perito∣naeum and Muscles being sow'd up together, and the skin loosly united, in a few days time the wound was cur'd. In a weeks time the Dog recover'd, and ran about as he us'd to do, so that as long as he liv'd there was no sign observ'd that any harm had been done him, or of the hurt of his health: But becoming more hungry, he greedily devour'd his Meat, and eat Bones or any thing of that nature; and his Ex∣crement observ'd the exact course of Na∣ture. One thing only I observ'd, that the Dog piss't frequently, and very much; which though it be customary to other Dogs, yet this seem'd to exceed the common cu∣stome. The habit of body every way heal∣thy and fat; and in nimbleness and brisk∣ness equal to others of his kind. But this was peculiar in the external habit of his body, a swelling of the right Hypochon∣drium, so that the extream Ribs burgeon'd out beyond the rest. Thereupon, fresh hopes

encouraging, a second Dissection is design'd. The Spleen then in the slit Abdomen whose Vessels were fast ty'd, appear'd very slender, so that being wrapt with the Caul, there hard∣ly remain'd any footstep of it behind. For it resembled a small bag interwoven with Membranes: the Blood-Vessels numerously dispers'd to the Stomach, and through the Caul, were entire and flourishing, and full of blood. The Splenetic Branch open, and natural, surrounded with its natural fat. The Liver to sight, as to substance, colour, and shootings forth of the Branches, all in good order: only you might have said it ex∣ceeded a little in bigness, in regard it spread it self largely over the left Hypochondri∣um. Neither was there any thing found amiss in the Breast or the Abdomen, or the fleshy part: the blood brisk, ruddy, and fluid. All these things being found in a Dog, gave us not the least light to find out the use of the Liver.

Certainly it is a wonder that nothing could be learnt or found out concerning the Use of the Spleen: Nevertheless I put down this, that I might excite others to make the like Experiments; that so at length the true use of the Spleen may come not only to be taught by Reason, but to be shewn and prov'd by Demon∣stration.

XXXIX. From what has been said,* 1.409 it is abundantly apparent how various and uncertain the Opinions of most Doctors are concerning the Use of the Spleen, so that hardly any one has hit upon the true use of it; which is no o∣ther, than to make acid matter out of the Arterial Blood, out of which be∣ing again mix'd with the sulphurous Particles in the Liver, and concocted after a specific manner, the bilious Fer∣ment of the Blood and Chylus is made. But how that acid Matter or Juice is ge∣nerated within it, is not so easie to be ex∣plain'd. That Operation seems to pro∣ceed in this manner. In the Substance of the Liver, which is acid by nature, are contain'd many Glandules; now the blood is pour'd into those small Glan∣dules through the ends of the Arteries; and into that the Animal Spirits are in∣fus'd through the ends of the Nerves, concluding in those Glandules, which taming the sulphurous spirit of the blood, give it a slight Acrimony; with which be∣ing once endu'd by the compression of the adjoyning parts, it is squeez'd out of the said Glandules, and swallowed up by the Roots of the Splenetick Vein; and so flows through the Splenetick Vein through the Porta and Liver. But before it runs under the Roots of the Veins, it seems to stay in the adjacent Cells, whose Sub∣stance is acid, and by that stay acquires in them a more eager acidity, as Wine standing in a Vinegar Vessel, acquires a more acid Acrimony.

XL. Here arises a Question, Whe∣ther* 1.410 the Spleen be a Vessel necessary to Life; and whether it may be taken and cut out of a Man's Body, and the wound heal'd again without any da∣mage of Life or Health? For the Af∣firmative part the Authority of Pliny of∣fers it self, who L. 11. c. 37. thus writes, It is certain that the Bird call'd Aegoce∣phalus has no Spleen, nor any of those Creatures that want blood. It is many times a peculiar impediment, and therefore they that are troubled with it, have it burnt out; and Creatures are said to live after it is taken out by Incision. Trallian seems to prove Plinies Opinion by a Practical Example, who L. 8. re∣lates that a Soldier was once cur'd by him, the whole region of whose Spleen had been burnt with barbarous hot I∣ron-Tools. Bartholine also Cent. 4. Anat. Rar. Hist. 51. endeavours to confirm the Authority of Pliny, by the Experience of Fierovantus, boasting that he had cut the Spleen out of a certain Woman, and so restor'd her to health; of which he writes there is no question to be made, because of the Witnesses, whereas he produces no Witnesses of any credit. This Experiment of Fierovantus, Deusin∣gius both quotes and admires, and out of Francis Rousset, brings the Testimonies of two inconsiderable obscure Surgeons, who affirm'd that they had taken out Spleens that were alter'd and wounded, and had heal'd the Patients with success; and giving undoubted credit to these Te∣stimonials, he concludes concerning the Spleen; This Bowel is not necessary for Life, but only for a more happy Constitution of Health; not so much to being, as to well∣being; not to Nutrition and Preservation simply, but to a better Nutrition, as the generation of a thinner, more elaborate, and more spiritous Blood. To the Con∣firmation of which Opinion, the forego∣ing Experiment of Malpigius very much conduces, taken out of the same Author. And that same new way, lately first in∣vented in England, of cutting the Spleen out of Dogs that live for all that, seems very much to favour this Opinion. As we also, with several others, have seen a whole Spleen taken, or cut out of a Dog, the Abdomen of the left side being slit by

Regnerde Graesf, and the Vessels of the Spleen well ty'd with a strong Thred: afterwards the wo•…•…nd being cur'd, the Dog was recover'd, for which reason we call'd the Dog Spleenless. At the same time the same accurate Dissecter R. de Graesf, told us, That the English gave him an account, how that those Dogs after their Spleens were taken out, were afterwards always barren: and that therefore he resolv'd to try the Experi∣ment in a Bitch, which he kept after he had cut out the Spleen and cur'd the wound: but thls Bitch growing proud was lin'd by a Dog, and whelp'd two Puppies, by which he refuted the obser∣vation of the English. All these things seem to shew that there is no great ne∣cessity of this Bowol for Life, nor so no∣ble a use as hitherto has been attributed to it.

The Negative is maintain'd, not only by the Ancients, but also by Levinus Lemnius, Toby Knoblock, Lindan, and innumerable other Neoteric Physicians; nay, of six thousand you shall hardly find one that does not altogether ex∣plode the former Opinion. Of which C•…•…lius Aurelianus thus writes; That the Spleen may be cut or taken away, we have heard indeed related in words, but never actually perform'd. Reason also and Ex∣perience support the same Negative.

XLI. Reason: For that the chief* 1.411 Architect never made any thing in our Bodies in vain, and therefore all the Bowels, none excepted, and all the parts are found and given to some necessary Use. What man then in his Sen•…•…s can believe, that so eminent and large a Bowel as the Spleen is, and with which all Creatures that have blood, ex∣cept some few, are endu'd, should be gi∣ven in vain to Men and Beasts, without any necessity for Human Life. Of whose true Function and Use, altho' we in these darknesses of Nature, may not perhaps so rightly judge, and raise sharp Disputes upon this Subject, yet this does not take away the Use of the Bowel it self for the support of Life, seeing that not only its remarkable bigness, and admirable connexion and society with other Bowels, sufficiently shew, but also Health proceeding from its soundness, and several Diseases arising from its de∣prav'd Constitution, daily teach us the Necessity of it.

XLII. Experience: For that ne∣ver,* 1.412 that I know of, it was ever seen, heard, written or observ'd by any Physician of any Credit or Authority, that ever any man had his Spleen cut out and liv'd. The Story of Trallian proves nothing; for he does not say that his Patients Spleen was cut out, or con∣sum'd and wasted by Ustion; but only that the exterior Region of the Spleen was cauteriz'd. As for Fierovantus, he was a strowling Mountebank, of no Au∣thority, and very little Credit, who en∣deavour'd to impose upon silly People, that he might appear a greater Physici∣an among the Vulgar than he was. As for those obscure Chirurgeons cited out of Roussettus, there is the same Credit to be given to them. And we remember a thousand other such like little Fables re∣lated to us, by certain ignorant and vain∣glorious Surgeons, to whom there was no Credit to be given. Certainly, if the thing were really so, we should not need in this Age to fetch Testimonials from Mountebanks and stupid Barber Chirur∣geons, since we have had so many thou∣sand eminent and famous Physicians and Philosophers, who have made it their business to dive into the Mysteries of Nature, of whom, tho' not all, yet some would have seen and observ'd some∣thing concerning this matter. But now the whole Confirmation rests upon the uncertain Testimonies of some obscure Authors, which are contradicted by o∣ther more ponderous Reasons, besides the former alledged; so that the said O∣pinion can no longer be propt by any more such weak Supporters: For that besides the Nerves, large Blood-bearing Vessels enter the Spleen of a Man, and go forth again; two Splenetick Arteries and various Veins meeting in one Sple∣netick Branch, of which the sole re∣section is sufficient, to kill a man with a vast Flux of blood. For it is not pro∣bable that these Vessels can be so straitly bound by any Knots, or other astringent Remedies, but that the Flux of blood must be very great for all that. Or if they be bound with Strings (which in that hidden part of Man cannot conve∣niently be done, as is known to them that understand the Constitution and Connexion of the Bowel) yet then not long after, the Threads being putrify'd, either a deadly Flux of blood or a Gan∣grene, must of necessity follow. More∣over, I my self have more than once seen Spleens wounded with Swords and Spears, but never knew any man so wounded escape, notwithstanding all the diligence that I and other Surgeons could use. Now if only the wounds, and

those slight ones too, of this Bowel are Mortal; nay, if only its being out of order, its obstruction, or any other Di∣stemper so grievously disturb the whole body, and many times occasion death; how much more deadly will it be, how much more destructive to the body and to life, when it is all taken away? As for Dogs, whose Spleens are cut out, they do not all live; nay, of many so serv'd, very few recover; and they, the rest of their lives, dull, heavy and sloth∣ful, nor do they live long. And that for this reason without doubt; for that for want of convenient matter to be afford∣ed from the Spleen, convenient Ferment cannot be prepar'd in the Liver, which causes a thicker blood to be generated in the Heart, out of which blood but few Animal and Vital Spirits can be rais'd, and those very thick. Besides, what may be done safely and conveniently in a Dog, to attempt that in Man, to the ha∣zard of Life, would be a Villany. For that which in this particular proves not mortal in a Dog, would certainly kill a Man. Without doubt, there is no Per∣son of sound Judgment but must suffer himself to be perswaded, but that this Bowel executes a more necessary Action in Man, than in a Dog, in whom the Pancreas, or other part, may better sup∣ply the office of the Spleen, than in a Man, as in whom the whole Bowel is furnish'd with so many Arteries, Veins, and Nerves, and furnish'd with its own Parenchyma, and consequently cannot be created in vain.

XLIII. Hence it is apparent what* 1.413 is to be answer'd to that Experiment of Malpigius, that is to say, that be∣cause there is a lesser use of a Spleen, and not so necessary an action requir'd from it in a Dog as in a Man: hence it happens that some Dogs may want the use of it, and yet not all; Experience teaching us, that several have perish'd in a short time, whose Spleens have been cut out, and few have escap'd. Whereas it is otherwise in Man, in whom seeing the least disorder of the Spleen many ways, and after a wonderful man∣ner disturbs the whole Microcosmical Kingdom, much more dammage would it receive from the taking it out of the Body.

XLIV. And therefore we must con∣clude* 1.414 the Spleen to be in man most ne∣cessary for Life, and that it cannot be cut out, and the life of man be still preserv'd.

CHAP. XVII. Of the Function of the Liver and Spleen; also of the use of Choler, the Pancreatick and Lymphatick Iuice.

I. HOW various the Opinions* 1.415 of several Men have been concerning the use of Choler, the Pan∣creatic Iuice, and the Lympha, we have shewn in the foregoing Chapters. But since no Body has as yet perceiv'd, or at least describ'd the Dignity of those Bowels, nor the necessity of those Juices, it will be now time that those Mysteries that have lain hid for so many Ages, should be brought to light, from the knowledge whereof will arise the greatest light to Physic, and the obscure and un∣known Causes of many Diseases will be discover'd.

II. The Actions of the Liver, the* 1.416 Spleen, and the Sweet-bread all con∣spire to the self same end, and prepare the Ferment of the Blood and Chylus together, in the making whereof the Functions of these three must of ne∣cessity concur, when the one cannot perfect this business without the o∣ther.

As Leaven is mix'd with Flowre of Wheat kneaded with warm Water, that thereby the more thick and earthy Parts of the Wheat may be dissolv'd, and the spirituous Parts asleep and ly∣ing hid in that terrestrial Mass may be attenuated and stirr'd up, and so the whole Mass of Bread being throughly besprinkl'd with those attenuated Spirits is made more light and easy for Digesti∣on: Thus there is a necessity for the Ferment to be mix'd with the Chylus and Venal Blood, by means of which the spirituous Particles lying hid therein, may be attenuated and quicken'd up, and so the whole Mass be more fit for Sangui∣fication and Nourishment.

III. Now that same Leaven of* 1.417 Bread, which will bring us more ea∣sily to the Knowledg of the Ferment of the Blood and Chylus, is gene∣rally

made of some Quantity of Meal which is kneaded together with warm Water, to which is added a small Quantity of Salt & Vinegar, and so kept in a warm Place, till the salt or acid Spirits are somewhat volati∣liz'd by the Heat, and pierce through the Particles of the Mass of Flower, and dilate and separate 'em, and so render the whole Mass▪ Subacid and Fermentative. Then a little Piece of this acid Ferment being mix'd into the Mass of Meal kneaded with warm Water, causes the whole Mass to ferment. For those Fermentaceous Particles diffuse themselves through the whole Mass, and cut and attenuate all the Parts of the Dough, and the Spirits therein lying hid. Our Country Folks mix also Yest with their Dough to the same end; and others perhaps may use another Ferment; but all Ferment, what∣ever it be, consists of Salt, Acid, Sowre, and Corroding things, melted and some∣what volatiliz'd with a moderate Heat: Which if they be thicker and closer, are more slowly dissolv'd, and their Power shews it self more slowly, and must be mix'd a longer time with the Dough be∣fore they can ferment it, as happens in the first Ferment, which must be mix'd for many Hours, and sometimes a whole Night, to perfect its Work. But if by the Mixture of certain sulphury Particles they become Spirituous and more Volatiliz'd, they ferment presently as we find in Yest, which within an Hour, or half an Hour, and sometimes sooner, accomplishes its Operation. For the more spirituous sharp Particles be in this more free from the Matter wherein they are lodged, and for that Reason are in∣dued with a more penetrating Power, operate more suddainly, and in a short time dissolve the thick Particles of the Dough, and more swiftly rouse the la∣tent Spirits, which they do yet more vi∣olently, if a little Honey be added to* 1.418 the Yest: For the Honey contains in it self sharp Particles, but lately dissolv'd by the Sulphury, and involv'd within 'em. But nothing of this is perform'd without a moderate Heat, as being that by which the salt Particles must be brought to a moderate acid Quality, and something of Volatility.

IV. In the same manner it is with* 1.419 the Chylus and Venal Blood, which if they be not attenuated and pre∣pared by the Mixture of convenient Ferment before Sanguification, then they fail to be full of spirits in the heart. That is to say, the Spirits lying asleep therein, are not sufficiently separated from the more thick and serous Matter, but lye drowsie still, which produces thick and watery blood, of little use to nourish the Body and strengthen the Parts; whence the Body becomes lan∣guid, and both Natural and Animal Actions go but slowly forward.

V. This Ferment of the Blood and* 1.420 Chylus is made by the Liver, with which Hepatic Ferment however, the Pancreatic Iuice is mixt in the Duo∣denum, for the more special prepara∣tion of the Chylus flowing out of the Stomach.

VI. The matter out of which the* 1.421 Liver makes this Ferment, is the Ve∣nal Blood flowing into it from the Gastric and Mesaraics through the Vena Portae, and a small quantity through the small Branches of the E∣patic Artery, with which is mix'd a sowre, salt, acid Iuice, made in the Spleen of the Arterial Blood flowing into it through the Arteries, and the Animal Spirits through the Nerves, which is carried through the Splenetic Branch to the Vena Portae, and toge∣ther with the Blood with which it is mixed is conveighed to the Liver.

VII. And by means of this sharp* 1.422 and corroding Iuice, by the specific power of the Liver, the spiritous Par∣ticles, as well the sulphury as salt, la∣tent in that Venal Blood, are dissolv'd, attenuated, and also made somewhat sharp and fermentative, and some cer∣tain thinnest part of' em, like fair and clear water, by means of the conglo∣merated Glandules seated chiefly in the hollow part of the Liver, separating it self from the remaining thicker part of the Blood through many Lymphatic Vessels, is carried from the Liver in∣to several Veins, to prepare the Venal Blood flowing toward the Heart. But the greatest part of it is carried to the Vasa Chylifera, in them to prepare the Chylus for succeeding Fermentation in the Heart. To which end also a certain fermentative Spittle, as also a salt and somewhat acid Lympha is also carried thither from the Glandules of the Arm∣holes, Groyns, and other Glandules, and somewhat of the thinner Pancreatic

Iuice out of the Intestines, together with the Chylus, enters the Vasa Chyli∣fera.

VIII. But as in Ale that works,* 1.423 many spirits already rais'd, are alrea∣dy mingled with the whole quantity of Ale, and render it spiritous, strong, and fit to be attenuated and digested in the Stomachs of those that drink it: So also many spirits being still inter∣mix'd and coop'd up within the more thick and viscous Particles of the Ale, ascend with them to the top, and boyl∣ing, or rather fermenting and frothy, burst forth out of the Vessel with a noise. Which frothy Substance has a kind of bitterish sharp, intermix'd with something of a sweetish taste. And this is that which our Houswives call Yest, and we the Flower of Ale, which being preserv'd, serv'd to ferment new Ale, or new Dough.

IX. Thus the Operation also pro∣ceeds* 1.424 in the Liver, and the more sharp fermentative spirits, being mix'd with the thicker and more viscous sulphury Iuices, (for Sulphur is clammy) and strongly boyling or fermenting, when by reason of the viscosity of the Iuices wherein they are lodg'd, they cannot enter the conglomerated Glandules, and from thence the Lymphatic Vessels, and yet by reason of their sharp Ebul∣lition they are parted, together with the Iuice wherein they are lodg'd, become bitter, and are call'd by the name of Choler. Which Choler, by the means of the Glandulous Balls, flows by de∣grees to the Intestines thorough the bila∣ry Porus and the Gall-bladder, to the end that there, together with the Pancreatic Iuice, it may be mixed with the thicker Mass; that is to say, with the Nourish∣ment concocted in the Stomach, and now descending to the Intestines, that it may also cause that to boyl, and by that means dissolve and separate the thinner parts of the Chylus from the thicker, and atte∣nuate to that degree, that they may be forc'd into the narrow Orifices of the Milkie Vessels.

X. To that purpose this Choler* 1.425 slides down through the Ductus Cho∣lidochus to the beginning of the In∣testines, that is, the Duodenum, and is there presently mix'd with the Pan∣creatic Juice flowing thither through the Wirtzungian Chanel, from the Sweetbread, and by that means is by and by mingled with the Alimentary Mass concocted in the Stomach, and descending from it, and causes it to boyl.

XI. And because at the beginning* 1.426 it is sharper, and retains its full vi∣gour, and for that by reason of the mixture of the Pancreatic acid Iuice, it is presently ready for Ebullition; hence in that very beginning, the Ef∣fervescency is most intense; which is the reason that the Milkie Iuice, lodg'd in the Mass, concocted in the Stomach, is for the most part immedi∣ately separated in the Jejunum, and through the innumerable Milkie Ves∣sels belonging to this Gut more than to any other, with an extraordinary speed push'd forward to the Receptacle of the Chylus, for which reason that Gut is for the most part found empty and fasting. But in the next Guts, by rea∣son of the most thin fermentative Spirits dissipated at the beginning, the Efferve∣scency is somewhat slower and less effe∣ctual, and the separation of the Chylus from the thicker Mass that remains is more tardy, which is the reason they have fewer Milkie Vessels. Lastly, The remainder of that fermentaceous Matter being mix'd in the thick Intestines, with the thick dregs of the Nourishment, be∣ing now slowly dissolv'd, by reason the more subtil parts and strength of it are wasted by a long Effervescency in the thin Guts, causes a more slow and less frequent (and that not without a longer stay) fermentative Effervescency in them, which moving and distending the feculent filth, and rendring it more sharp, molests the Guts, and so provokes 'em to evacuation. And now because this Effervescency happens to be late, therefore those Provocations are not frequent, so that men in health seldom go to stool above once or twice in a day. And as that remaining Ferment is more or less acrimonious, hence it causes in the Excrement a swister or later, a more intense or remiss Effervescency, whence more frequent or more seldom going to the Stool.

XII. But how it comes to pass that* 1.427 the said Choler becomes more sharp and fermentative in man, proceeds from hence, that all the milder Choler does not presently flow directly from the Liver through the bilary Porus into

the Intestines, but a good part of it, and that the thinnest is carried from the Liver through the gaully Roots into the Gall-Bladder, and there stays a while, that by the specific Property and Temper of the Place, the more sharp Spirits, through that Stay, may be the more vigorously roused up and exalted, and thence, boyling a little in the Cystis, may flow to the Intestines: Into which Place being brought, and being either too little, or too sharp, it may there be the cause of Diseases of both kinds.

XIII. But the superfluous and chief∣est* 1.428 part of the Venal Blood, of which the Ferment is made in the Liver, which neither could nor ought to be chang'd into the Nature of Choler or Lympha, being plentifully furnish'd with the fermentative Quality of the made Ferment, flows into the Vena Cava, with which from above out of the subclavial Veins, it meets a prepar'd and attenuated Chylus, or in the ab∣sence of that the Lymphatic Liquor alone, mix'd with the Blood of the Subclavial Veins, and so by degrees enter the right Ventricle of the Heart, and there by reason of that previous convenient Preparation, or attenuati∣on, are presently dilated into a Blood∣like spirituous Vapor; as Gunpowder presently flashes into a Flame when touch'd by Fire. Now that the Blood flowing out of the Liver into the Vena Cava, is mix'd and endu'd with a Fer∣mentative, and chiefly Choleric Quality appears from hence, that if in a Crea∣ture newly kill'd the Liver be cut from the Vena cava, and the Blood flowing out of it sav'd, put but a little Spirit of Niter to that Blood, and presently it be∣comes of a Rust-Colour, which hap∣pens in no other Blood, and by that means the Bilious Ferment concealed within it, is discover'd.

XIV. But that that same bloody* 1.429 Spirit may be more perfect, and re∣tain its Vigor the longer, by the beat∣ing of the Heart it is forced imme∣diately through the Pulmonary Arte∣ry into the Lungs, and there by the Cold of the Aire breath'd in is con∣densed into Liquor, and flows through the Pulmonary Vein into the left Ventricle of the Heart, wherein again (as Spirit of Wine is rectifi'd by a second Distillation) it attains the ut∣most Perfection of spirituous Blood, and so is forc'd into the Aorta, that thereby it may be communicated thro' the lesser Arteries, and through all the Parts of the Body, to nourish and en∣liven 'em. Out of which Nourish∣ment, that Blood which at length re∣mains, being depriv'd of the greatest part of its Spirits, enters the lesser Veins, and by those is carried to the greater, and by them again to the Heart, to the end it may be there a∣gain attenuated and become Spirituous. But because in that Circulation, many parts of the Blood are consum'd in the Nourishment of the Parts, whose Sub∣stance also is continually consum'd and dissipated by the Heat; hence it is ne∣cessary that a new Chylus fit to be changed into Blood be again mix'd with the venal Blood returning to the Heart, to supply the place of what is wasted. And thus our Life consists in such a con∣tinual Nourishment, which failing, pre∣sently Health is impair'd, and the Oyl of our Lamp being wasted we goe quite out.

XV. It may be questioned whence* 1.430 those sharp hot fermentative Qualities arise in our Nature. I answer, out of Sulphur and Salt. The first Emotion is from Sulphur, but the primary A∣crimony is from Salt, which besides Sulphur is lodg'd in all Nourishment. For there is nothing which we eat that does not naturally contain a Salt in it, tho' some things contain more, some less: and Sulphur dissolves the Salt, and renders it fluid. Which being dissolv'd and attenuated, cor∣rodes, penetrates and dissolves by means of its Acrimony, all the Par∣ticles of the Nourishment, and so dis∣poses 'em for the Extraction of the Spirits that ly hid within 'em. Which Operation is Fermentation, without which Man could not live; and with which being weak or deprav'd, a Man lives miserably. Now to advance this Fermentation the more prosperously, by instinct of Nature to the natural Salt which is in our Nourishment we add the help of Sea Salt, which we mix with our Meat, and with which we powder our Flesh: And so much the harder the Substance of the Meat is, and conse∣quently the more violent Fermentation,

and effective Ferment they require for Digestion, so much the more we desire to have 'em well salted; as Beef and Pork. For that the Salt in such Meats causes a more easy Digestion. So that the sulphury Spirits that are to reduce that Salt to Fusion, are sufficiently re∣dundant and effectual in Man, as in young and choleric People. And of this we have a manifest Example in a Herring, which being salted and eaten raw eastly digests in the Stomach, but not being salted, tho' boyl'd, is with great Difficulty digested. Moreover that the Fermenting Spirits lying hid in that thick Salt may be roused up to Action, we boyle our Meat in the Kitch∣in, that the more fix'd and solid Parts of it may be the better dissolv'd, and so prepared to Fusion and Volatilitie, that they may be the more easily tam'd and vanquish'd in the Stomach, when we feed upon those harder sorts of Food, we make use of sharp spirituous and sul∣phury Sawces, as Spice, Turheps, Anise, Carrots, Mustard; many times drink strong Wine, and Spirit of Wine after Meals. For the sulphury Spirits being mixed with the Salt, potently dissolve and penetrate the thick and sixed Parti∣cles, and a fitness to melt, and so advance the Energie of Fermentation. Which chylifying Operation is very much assisted partly by the Spittle which flows from the Mouth to the Stomach and is endued with a fermentative Quality; partly by a peculiar Ferment, which is made out of some part of the Chylus, remaining after its Concoction and Ex∣pulsion of the greatest part to the In∣testines, in the Stomach, and sticking to the Folds and Pores of the innermost Tunicle, and there turning sowre. And so by that first Fermentation the more spirituous and profitable Parts of the Nourishment come forth of the thicker Mass like Cream, and assume the Name of Chylus.

XVI. Out of this Chylus endu'd* 1.431 with many salt and sulphury Particles from the Nourishment received by means of a new fermentative Prepa∣ration, caused by the Choler, Pancre∣atic Iuice, and Lympha, the Blood is made in the Heart, which contains in it self those salt Particles of the Chylus, but more attenuated and mix'd more exactly with the Sulphu∣reous.

XVII. Out of the salt Particles of* 1.432 this Blood, flowing to the Spleen, the splenic Artery, and to the Sweetbread, and many other Glandules through peculiar Arteries, and somewhat sepa∣rated by the Afflux of Animal Spi∣rits, there is another matter of Fer∣ment to be composed in the Spleen and Parts aforesaid, to be the great∣est part concocted into a more perfect Ferment by the Liver for the Venal Blood and Chylus.

XVIII. And thus the first Origi∣nal* 1.433 of Internal Ferment is from the Nourishment, which afterwards is more and more attenuated by various Concoctions, and alter'd in our Body into a more subtle Ferment.

XIX. Now that it is the true Of∣fice* 1.434 of the Liver, Spleen, and Sweet∣bread, to make Ferment in the man∣ner aforesaid, is apparent from hence, that when those Bowels are perfectly Sound, and perform their Duty ac∣cording to Nature, the whole Mass of Blood is better and more full of Spi∣rits, and thence the Body more Live∣ly and Active, and all the Natural and Animal Operations are rightly perform'd. On the other side, when these Bowels are out of Order, a thou∣sand Diseases arise from the Blood and Chylus ill fermented.

XX. As we have already said there* 1.435 is a sharp Salt, acid Iuice which is made in the Liver out of the artery Blood, copiously forc'd through the splenic Artery into this Bowel, which by the plentiful pouring in of Animal Spirits through the Nerves, and by the specific Temper of this Bowel is soon altered, and the sulphury Spirit that was before predominant in it is dull'd, fix'd, and suffocated, so the salt acid latent Spirits comes forth in∣to Action, and the salt Particles, somewhat separated from the Sulphury, get the upper hand: And hence it comes to pass, that the hot sweetish Blood flows through the Arteries in∣to the Spleen, but by and by the sul∣phury Heat being extinguish'd, toge∣ther with the Sweetness, it becomes Saltish, or somewhat Acid, and flows through the Splenic Branch from the Spleen to the Liver: Which is the Reason a boyl'd Spleen tasts somewhat Sowrish. And thus it happens in this

Matter, as in a Vinegar Vessel, Vine∣gar is made out of Wine; for the Vine∣gar Vessel is laid in a warm Place, commonly in the Garret, where the Sun may come at it. Into this Vessel, not quite full, they pour a moderate Quan∣tity of good strong Wine (for weak Wine will not make good Vinegar.) Which done, presently the sulphury sweet Spirit of the Wine is fix'd and suffocated by the salt and acid Particles predominating in the Vinegar, and the salt and acid Particles which are lodg'd in the Wine are melted, dissolv'd, at∣tenuated, and forc'd to Action by the sharp Acidity of the Vinegar, and so the Wine turns Eager, and becomes Vi∣negar. And thus the sulphureous Spi∣rit of the Arterial Blood, is fix'd and stifl'd, partly by the Animal Spirits flowing through the Nerves, partly by the acid and salt Spirits prepared and contain'd in the Spleen; and the salt and acid Spirits that are in it get the up∣per hand; which afterwards, new sul∣phury Spirits that ly in the Venal Blood, being mix'd therewith afresh, are to be by the Liver altered into perfect Fer∣ment.

XXI. Now that the first Matter* 1.436 of the Ferment to be perfected in the Liver is prepared in the Spleen, may be in some measure demonstrated by Experience. For if the Spleen of an Ox, Hog, or other Male Creature be cut into small Bits, and macerated in luke-warm Water, and afterwards mix∣ed with a small Quantity of Dough, it dilates it, and causes it to ferment, like Yest or any other Leven: Which it does so much the more effectually if the smallest Quantity of Vinegar be ad∣ded to it.

XXII. Now if this Function of the* 1.437 Spleen be interrupted, there are two Causes of Diseases which arise from thence. Some by reason of the salt and acid Iuice too thick and fix'd: Others when it is too thin and vola∣tile. For when the salt and acid Juices in the Spleen are not sufficiently dissolv'd and attenuated, then the Spirits which are extracted out of them are too sharp, corroding, and in too great Abun∣dance, and this Diversity produces Di∣versity of Diseases.

XXIII. If the Spleen be weak, ei∣ther* 1.438 through its own or the Fault of the Nourishment, or through any o∣ther Cause, then the acid Iuice that is concocted in it, is not sufficiently dissolv'd, attenuated, and volatiliz'd, but remains thick, and tartarous, or earthy, and the greatest Part of it lyes heap'd together in the Bladdery Substance of the Spleen, and adjoyning Parts, by reason of its crude Visco∣sity, which causes the Spleen to wax great, and to swell, in regard the Spirit that lies hid within it is not sufficiently rous'd up, but boyling a little in the narrow Passages in the Spleen and about the Spleen, distends the whole Spleen and Parts adjoyn∣ing to it, and raises a thousand win∣dy Vapours with rumbling and roar∣ing, and a troublesome Distemper fa∣miliar to Hypochondriacks. Which Mischiefs are very much encreased by a deprav'd Condition of the Pancreas, proceeding from the Blood corrupted by the vitious Humors of the Spleen, and brought to it through the Arteries. By reason whereof it concocts its own Juice but ill; and of over Salt, leaves it too Acid or Austere, which partly be∣gets great Obstructions in the Pancreas, the Disturbe•…•…s of the Function of that Bowel: Partly flowing into the Inte∣stines, causes an undue Effervescency therein, and infuses a bad subacid Qua∣lity into the Chylus; whereby it becomes lyable to fixation, or coagulation; nor cannot be sufficiently attenuated. Whence by reason of the more fixed and thick∣er Chylus remaining in the Abdomen, and less prepared to farther Solution, are generated Obstructions in the mil∣kie Vessels, in the Mesentery, and Glan∣dules of the Mesentery, and therein a great Quantity of crude and ill Humors is heaped together, from the Quantity and Corruption of which a thousand Diseases arise, which are vulgarly cal∣led Melancholic, and are said to arise from the Spleen, but how they are bred by it, has not been as yet sufficiently Explain'd. But when the Blood remains too thick for want of effectual and con∣venient Ferment, and Spirits not sup∣ply'd in sufficient Quantity, the whole Body grows dull and languid, and ma∣ny Diseases arise. For the Blood being thick and not sufficiently Spirituous, and having salt crude and slimy Parts in∣termix'd with it, by coagulating the Humors in the Liver and other Bowels of the Abdomen, it breeds Obstructions and Scirrhosities. It is not sufficiently di∣lated in the Heart, but is forc'd too thick

into the Lungs, and there being yet more refrigerated by the Air drawn in, it diffi∣cultly passes through the narrow Pas∣sages of 'em, and so stuffing the Lungs, and compressing the Gristles of the Windpipe, causes difficulty of Breathing. In the Heart it self by reason of the ine∣quality of the Particles, and the difficult Dilatation of many, it produces an un∣equal, and sometimes an intermitting Pulse. In the Brain passing difficultly and disorderly through those narrow Channels, it causes Noises and Heavi∣ness of the Head; and because it endam∣mages the natural Constitution of the Brain, and because it tears it with its remaining Acrimony, the principal A∣nimal Actions are thereby impaired, the Imagination and Judgment are deprav'd, the Memory is spoyl'd, and thence Mad∣ness, and Restlesness, Watching, and such like Inconveniencies arise which cause true Melancholy. But if that thick∣er Salt be somewhat more exalted and fluid, and yet is not sufficiently Spiritu∣ous, then the Blood requires an acid and austere Disposition, as in the Scur∣vy; and then the nervous Parts are torn and rack'd by it, the thin Skins in∣velloping the Bones are pain'd, and the softer Parts are corroded, the Guts also are terribly grip'd, and Ulcers arise in the Thighs very hard to be cured: Moreover the Blood becomes unfit for Nutrition, and thence a slow Atrophie of the whole Body. The aforesaid salt Particles being coagulated in colder Kidneys and separated from the serous Humor, harden into Stones; but being separated in the Joynts and fixed to the sensitive Parts, and corroding 'em, they cause the sharp Pains of the Gout: And lastly, heap'd together in greater Quanti∣ty, they breed knotty Bunches and Corns. All which things happen if the fermentaceous Juice in the Spleen be too raw and thick.

XXIV. But if the same Iuice be* 1.439 too thin and full of Spirits, and be prepared too sharp, then other Di∣seases arise. It excites in the Blood a great Heat conjoyned with some Acri∣mony, which because of the quick and disorderly Motion of the Animal Spi∣rits causes Restlesness, Watchings, high Deliriums, and Madness. Sticking lightly, coagulated in the Guts, it breeds the running Gout, for that sharp Hu∣mor being by reason of its Tenuity ea∣sily dissipated in one Part, presently the Pain arises again in another Part, to which some other Particles of the same Blood happen to adhere.

XXV. The Spleen Scirrhous, or* 1.440 Obstructed, or any other manner of way vitiated by breeding a bad fer∣mentaceous Iuice, begets a thousand grievous Mischiefs.

All which things sufficiently make manifest the Office and Duty of the Spleen.

XXVI. And in like manner, the* 1.441 Function of the Liver is apparent, from the Diseases that proceed from it when the Liver is colder than or∣dinary, it is not able duly to digest the said Splenetic Iuice, and together with the Venal Blood, and the sul∣phury* 1.442 Iuice intermix'd and sticking to it, to alter the splenetic Iuice into a due Ferment: Whereby there can never be a due Fermentation. The Chylus is not sufficiently concocted, nor sufficiently prepared for future Fermen∣tation in the Heart. The venal Blood becomes Crude, Serous, neither does it get Spirits sufficient in the Heart, but is attenuated only into a watry Vapour, which turns to a watry Liquor in the* 1.443 Vessels and sost Parts, and so filling the whole Body with Serum, begets the Dropsy call'd Anasarca, attended with continual Drought, by reason of the salt Particles lodg'd in the Serum not well mix'd with the Blood, which together with the Juices flowing from the Salival Vessels, and at that time also saltish, being carried to the Chaps and Gullet, by reason of their dry Vellication, or twitching of the Part, occasion continu∣al Drought.

XXVII. But when the Liver is hot, and consequently weak, then by exal∣ting the sulphury and oily Spirits out of the Blood, it raises 'em in too great a Quantity; by which the Force of the acid Iuice coming from the Spleen is very much weakened, and a bad Ferment generated. which pro∣duces Inflammations, Corruption, Fe∣vers, and other hot Diseases arising from an over deprav'd Fermentation, and begets over much Choler. Which Choler if it grow milder by reason of the Mixture of a little acid Juice, then it breeds the yellow Iaundice. But if sharp by reason of much Salt or acid and sharp splenetic Juice concocted with it, then it occasions the Disease Cholera, Diarrhaea Dysentery, and other like Di∣seases.

XXVIII. The Liver obstructed and* 1.444 scirrhous not causing the Generation and due distribution of good Fer∣ment, is also the Cause of several Crudities and many Diseases arising from Crudities.

As for the fermentaceous Quality of the Pancreatic Juice, and what Disea∣ses arise from a deprav'd Sweetbread, has already been discoursed C. 10.

XXIX. In the Birth, while it is* 1.445 in the Womb, there is no need of any such Ferment at the Beginning, be∣cause it is nourished by the Dissolu∣tion and Fusion of the Seed, which contains in it self a Spirit moderately Fermentaceous; and then by the milkie Iuice contained in the Amni∣nium that needs less Ferment. Af∣terwards when it requires somewhat stronger Nourishment, brought through the umbilical Vein, and begins to en∣joy it, then the whole Uterine Pla∣centa supplies the Office of the Spleen and Liver, and makes a more mild Ferment, more proper for the Birth in the Beginning. In the mean time the Liver and Spleen increase their Ferment to future Uses, that is, to prepare a more sharp Ferment afterwards, that is, when the Child being born should feed upon more solid Nourishment. Which Duty however those Bowels do not perform presently after the Birth of the Child, as it were by way of a Leap, but were also by degrees accustomed to it in the Womb. For the more the Heat of the Heart increases, and Blood is generated more full of Spirits, and the more the Brain is brought to Perfection and becomes stronger, the more sharp Spirits are generated in the Womb. And out of these two things, Blood and Animal Spirits meeting every day stron∣ger and stronger in the Spleen, which by Degrees is brought to greater Perfection together with the Spleen, and preparation of the fermentaceous Matter begins to be made; and as for the manner of preparing the same Matter, the said Bowels have gain'd to a sufficient Perfection; as ap∣pears by the Choler, which you shall find well concocted in the Gall-bladder of a newborn Infant.

XXX. And thus I think I have* 1.446 set forth the true, and never as yet sufficiently demonstrated Duty of the Liver and Spleen: As also the Use of Choler, Pancreatic Iuice and Lympha. Many more things might be alledged for farther Proof, but to the Learned what has been said may suffice.

The impartial Reader may confer these things with the Opinions of other Doctors that have wrote before us; and then he will perceive how far they have err'd from the Mark.

XXXI. And now from what has* 1.447 been said it is manifestly apparent what a necessary League and Confe∣deracy there is between the Liver and the Spleen, and what and how many Diseases arise from the bad Constitution of either of these two Bowels. How unlikely it is for a Man to live after his Spleen is cut out of his Body. It is also apparent how erroneously the second grand Concoction is said to be made in the Liver, Spleen, and Sweet∣bread, when of necessity it must be made in the Heart. For the forementioned Ferment is only made of the Blood, and the Blood must be first made in the Heart before it can come to the Liver, Spleen, and Sweetbread. And therefore the second general Concoction is made in the Heart, the third in the Liver, Spleen, and Sweetbread.

CHAP. XVIII. Of the Serum and Kidneys.

I. HAving thus explain'd the* 1.448 Office of the Liver and Spleen, it follows that we discourse of those Parts which evacuate the Se∣rum, which is necessarily mix'd in great Quantity with the Blood, when it is too redundant.

II. Now the Serum is a watery* 1.449 Part of the Meat and Drink, con∣cocted together with the salt and sulphury Iuices of the Nourishment, and plentifully mix'd with the Blood, to give perfect Mixture and necessary Thinness and Fluxibility, by means whereof it may penetrate the narrow∣est Passages; to wash away and mix with it the Impurities of the same and the more crude salt Particles, that together with it self they may be e∣vacuated by Spittle, Sweat and Urine.

III. And here it is that the Opinion* 1.450 of Jerome Barbatus, and some others, is to be rejected, who endeavour by many Reasons to prove that the Serum is a Humour no less Alimentary than the Blood, and that it nourishes the Spermatic Vessels, as the blood nourishes the fleshy. But their Arguments are so weak, that it is not worth the while to refute ▪em. For tho' the Nourishment cannot be distributed to the Parts with∣out the Serum, and that there are con∣tain'd in it some salt and sulphurous Particles, nevertheless it cannot thence be concluded, that that same Serum nou∣rishes the Spermatic Vessels, and that the Blood is excluded from that perform∣ance. But of this more at large L. 2. c. 12.

But for this Serum, because there is a necessity for an abundance of it to be mix'd with the blood, and to be daily renew'd, and yet it is not apply'd to any Substance of the Parts, therefore it is that Emunctories are requisite for the Evacu∣ation of its too much redundant Super∣fluity.

IV. These Emunctories or Evacuato∣ries,* 1.451 are twofold, External or Internal.

V. Again, the External are two∣fold:* 1.452 First, these, thorough which there is a manifest, but not perpetual Evacuation; as the Eyes, Mouth, and Nostrils. From the Eyes fall the se∣rous Humours of Tears. Through the Mouth and Nostrils the greatest part of the serous and flegmatic Humours and Vapours are expell'd, in Hawking, Spitting, Salivation, and the Murrh; as also in Respiration, which is conspi∣cuous in the Winter. Secondly, Those Evacuatories through which there is made insensible Transpiration, that is to say, the Pores of the Skin, through which day and night there is a continual and insensible Exhalation of the serous Vapour, which is often perceived in the form of Sweat. Now this Evacuation of the serous Humour through the Pores, far exceeds all other sensible Evacuations of what Excrements soever. As for ex∣ample; If a Man have taken in one day twelve pound of Nourishment, he shall evacuate through the Pores of the Skin, and by Transpiration near nine pound of Excrement in vapour, and hardly two by sensible Evacuation. Which San∣ctorius taught us by an ingenious Experi∣ment. He to that purpose weighed in a pair of exact Scales, a young Man in the Morning, after he had been at the House of Easment; and besides that, he weighed apart all the Meat which he was to eat that day. Then he as exact∣ly pois'd the weight of his Spittle, U∣rine, and Stool, collected all together, and then weighed the same Person at the same hour fasting, as he did before. By which means he found that the Excre∣ment insensibly evacuated through the Pores, exceeded far in weight all other sensible Evacuations.

VI. The Internal Evacuatories are* 1.453 the Reins and Piss-bladder, with the Parts thereupon depending.

VII. But before we begin with* 1.454 them, here is one Scruple to be re∣mov'd; Whether the Serum and Sweat, under which ought to be com∣prehended Exhalations and Vapours, consist of the same Materials, and a∣gree in Substance: Which is that which the generality of Physicians unanimous∣ly consent to. Tho' Lodowic Mercatus differs from all the rest, as he that be∣lieves these four Humours to be distinct in Substance. But this Doubt may be easily resolv'd, by alledging that the Serum of it self is a meer watery Liquor; but that the Urine and Sweat are not Liquors so simple as the Serum so pro∣perly taken, but Liquors endued with a certain saltness, and concocted with salt Particles, differing little or nothing, in respect of Substance, one from the other, yet in the mean time their chiefest part is Serum, from whence the serous Hu∣mours, which are not erroneously for the most part call'd Serum, the word being taken at large, and the Denomination from the greater part of the Substance.

VIII. The Reins are so call'd from* 1.455 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, to flow, because the Urine, like so many Rivers, flows from them, and 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 from 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 to piss.

IX. They are in number two; sel∣dom* 1.456 more or less: For it is look'd up∣on as a Prodigy, that there should be more than one Kidney upon one side, and none in the other, ▪or two Kidneys upon one side; which nevertheless has been sometimes found to be true. Ca∣brolius in two Bodies by him dissected, found one Kidney leaning upon the Ver∣tebers of the Loyns.

X. These two Kidneys are seated* 1.457 behind the Ventricle and the Guts, un∣der the Liver and Spleen, on both sides near the Spine, at the head of the Psoa Muscle. Whence it comes to pass that

that Muscle, being compress'd by the Stone in the Kidney, there happens a numbness in the Hip. However Riolanus in Animadvers. in Bartholin. alledges that that numbness proceeds from hence, that the Compression is made in that place, where those three Nerves are inserted into the musculous part of the Psoa, of which that remarkable Nerve is made in the Thigh, which is thence extended to the Foot: But in regard that Nerve in the Thigh is compos'd, not only of three, but of seven Nerves, that is to say, the four lower Nerves of the Loyns, and the three upper of the Os Sacrum, some of which abscond under the head of the Psoa. I do not see how the head of the Psoa, being compress'd, it should follow that the Nerves of the Thigh, seated in a lower place, should come to be com∣press'd, and that thence a numbness of the Thigh should follow.

XI. They lye upon the sides of the* 1.458 Aorta and Vena Cava, between the two Membranes of the Peritonaeum; the right being placed a little lower than the left. But the situation is very seldom alike; for either the right is some∣what higher than the left; nevertheless in Beasts the left is many times the lower.

XII. They are both seldom of an e∣qual bigness; for the most part the left* 1.459 being somewhat bigger than the right. They generally take up the length of three Vertebers, and sometimes four: three fingers broad, and equalling the thickness of the Thumb. Sometimes the whole bulk is found to be lesser, and sometimes bigger, which Bartholine be∣lieves he has observ'd in those that were most prone to Venery. Sometimes the bigness increases to Monstrosity; such was that which we saw in the Carkass of a certain Person in the Year 1658. both whose Reins surpass'd the bigness of half a Man's head: For that Nature won∣derfully sports her self in bigness, number, figure, and vessels. Of which there are various and remarkable Examples in Eustachius, Fernelius, Vesalius, Carpus, Botallus, Bauhinus, and others. Yet this Variety is very rare, and hardly to be found in one among six hundred.

XIII. In Figure they represent a French Bean, or the expanded Leaf of wild* 1.460 Spikenard. On the Outside they are gib∣bous, and bow'd backward: On the in∣side somewhat hollow at the ingress and egress of the Vessels. The Superficies in a Man of ripe years is smooth and equal; otherwise in a Cow, Sheep, and many other brute Creatures, in whom it is un∣equal; as if the Kidneys were compos'd of many round fleshy little Lumps or Buttons. Which external shape they also shew in new-born Children, which remains for three years, and sometimes for six years after the Birth, as Riolan witnesses. Eustachius reports that he ne∣ver observ'd that shape in Men grown up, but only twice. But Dominic. de Mar∣chettis writes that he shew'd the same Figure twice or thrice in the Theatre at Padua. Once I remember I saw the same in a Man run thorough the middle of the Abdomen above each Kidney with a Sword: In whose body, when at the request of the Magistrate, I enquir'd into the Cause of his death, and the Nature of the wound, by chance I found such a Figure of the Kidneys, as if compos'd of small Buttons.

XIV. They are cloathed with two* 1.461 Membranes; of which the outermost is common, proceeding from the Peri∣tonaeum, call'd the Fatty, because that in fat people it is surrounded with a great quantity of fat. Into this the Arteria Adiposa runs, from the Aor∣ta: out of it proceeds the Vena Adi∣posa, which the right Kidney sends to the Emulgent, rarely to the Trunk of the Vena Cava; the left sends forth to the Vena Cava. This Membrane knits both Reins to the Loyns and Dia∣phragma; the right also to the blind Gut, and sometimes to the Liver; the left to the Spleen and Colon. The innermost and proper Membrane is form'd out of the external Tunicle of the Vessels being dilated, (which Ves∣sels enter the Kidney with one only Tunicle.) Into which little Nerves are inserted, proceeding from the Fold of the sixth Pair, and the Thoracical Branch, affording a dull sense of feeling to the Kidney: which being nevertheless extended further into the Ureters, endue them with a most acute sense, and for that reason are the Cause that in Nephritic Pains the Stomach having a fellow feel∣ing, has oftentimes a desire to vomit. But very few Nerves, and those very small, and hardly conspicuous, enter the Substance of the Kidneys it self.

XV. Both the Kidneys have two* 1.462 large Vasa sanguifera; that is to say, an Artery and an Emulgent Vein; among which are sprinkled certain small

Lymphatic Vessels, as some ima∣gine.

XVI. The Emulgent Artery, pro∣duced* 1.463 from the Trunk of the descend∣ing Aorta, being first doubled, enters the flat part of the Kidney; thence it is dispers'd through the Substance of it with divers Branches, and therein vanishes into extream small and invi∣sible Twigs. Through this Artery, which is very large, great store of blood is carried to the Kidney, partly to nou∣rish it, together with its Urinary Vessels; partly that a good part of the serous Hu∣mor may be separated from it in its Glan∣dules, and that being emptied through the little Urinary Fibres, and Papillary Caruncles, or the ten little Bodies in the Reins, into the Pelvis, or Receptacle of the Reins, the blood may become less serous. This Artery we have once seen in the right Kidney, inserted into the lowermost part of the Kidney.

XVII. The Emulgent Vein is a lit∣tle* 1.464 larger than the Artery. This, with innumerable Roots meeting together in this Trunk, adheres to the Kidney and its Glandules, and thence pro∣ceeding out of it from the flat part, runs on to the Vena Cava, into which it opens with a broad Orifice, so situated as to give a free passage for the Blood into the Vena Cava; but hindring it from flowing out of the Vena Cava into the Emulgent. Whence it is cer∣tain, that the Blood is forc'd into the Kidney by the Emulgent Artery only, and part of it remaining after the Nou∣rishment of the Kidney, being freed from a good quantity of the serous Humour in the little Glandules, flows through the Emulgent Vein into the Vena Cava. I think it was never observ'd that two E∣mulgent Veins proceeded out of one Kid∣ney; yet once it was seen, and publickly demonstrated by us in a dissected Body, in Novemb. 1668. Both were of the u∣sual largeness; and one proceeded from the middlemost flat part of the Kidney, after the wonted manner; the other from the lowermost part of the same right Kidney, and about the breadth of half a Thumb one below the other, was in∣serted into the Vena Cava. And some∣thing like this I find to be observed by Saltzman in Observ. Anat.* 1.465

XVIII. The left of these Emulgent Veins in a Man enters the Vena Cava somewhat in a higher place, and is lon∣ger than the right, by reason of the higher and remoter situation of the Kidney from the Vena Cava. In ma∣ny Beasts the right is the higher. Some∣times their number is unequal, and their Progress unequal, as shall be shewn more at large L. 7. c. 6.

XIX. The dissemination and di∣spersing* 1.466 of both the Emulgent Vessels through the Kidney, cannot be exact∣ly demonstrated, because of the ex∣tream slenderness of the Branches, and the dimness of the Sight. In the mean while several Anatomists have written various Speculations concerning this matter, according to the diversity of their Opinions. Among the rest, Rolfinch asserts that the Roots of the E∣mulgent Veins meet together with the ends of the Emulgent Arteries by Anastomoses, and that he reports to be first observ'd by Eustachius, L. de Ren. But Malpigi∣us lately has sufficiently demonstrated the vanity of these Conjunctions, who by his Microscopes observ'd that several ends of little Arteries end in very small Glandules, adhering to the little Urina∣ry Fibres or Vessels; and that so some part of the Serum is separated from the Blood of those small Arteries, and car∣ried by the Urinary Vessels to the Pel∣vis, or Receptacle of the Kidneys: but that the rest of that Blood is suck'd up by the ends of the Veins, and so flows to the Emulgent Vein, and thence to the Vena Cava.

XX. In the inner part of the Kid∣ney* 1.467 is contain'd the Pelvis or Infun∣dibulum, which is nothing else but a membranous Concavity, compos'd of the Ureter, expanded and dilated in the hollow of the Kidney, and reaching thither with open and broad Branches, sometimes eight or ten, like Pipes:

XXI. Over which lye little pieces* 1.468 of Flesh or Carunculae, vulgarly call'd Papillares, by Rondeletius, Mam∣millares, (over each one) like small Kernels, not so deep coloured, but harder than the rest of the Flesh, about the bigness of a Pea, somewhat broad∣er above, convex below, with holes bor'd through, but so small that will hardly admit a hair. Malpigius ob∣serv'd over and above, that innumerable Fibres also extend themselves toward the gibbous part from the Appendixes of the Pelvis form'd into a Bow; and that some portions of the Pelvis, like extend∣ed

Vessels, accompanying the Vasa San∣guifera, extend themselves toward the Circumference.

XXII. The Substance of the Reins,* 1.469 as far as occurs to the sight, appears to be as it were fibrous, form'd out of the concourse and intermixture of the smallest Vessels joyned together, to∣gether with something of Carnosity in∣terventing, endu'd with various slen∣der little Chanels. To the outward touch somewhat hard, but within side indifferently spungy; without of a dark ruddy colour, but toward the Pelvis or Kidney Receptacle, more pale.

XXIII. This is as much as generally* 1.470 is obvious to the sight in the Reins. But not very long ago Malpigius was the first who discover'd more Secrets in the Reins, which were unknown to the pre∣ceding Anatomists; and because all A∣natomists are upon this score much be∣holding to that great Man: of necessity the Mysteries by him revealed are here to be added. Neither is any thing to be detracted from the Honour of this first Discoverer.

He writes L. de Ren. that tho' in Men* 1.471 grown up the Superficies of the Kidneys appears generally smooth, yet that in Children new born it is unequal (as has been already said,) and that that same Conjunction of the Buttons or Balls in grown People is still to be discern'd on the inside from the diversity of the Co∣lour, which in the little Balls without, and toward the sides to which they are conjoyn'd, is ruddy, toward the inner parts is more pale. But as in Beasts those little Glandules are round, but to∣ward the inner parts, being extended to an obtuse narrowness, are joyned toge∣ther sometimes quadrangular, quinquan∣gular, and sometimes sexangular; so like∣wise in Men there is plainly to be ob∣serv'd from the diversity of the Colour, the like, but a closer Conjunction of the little Balls. Then he adds, That the Membrane being taken away in a new, and as yet soft Kidney, certain round and very short Bodies roll'd up like Worms, may be discern'd by the help of a Microscope; not unlike those that are found in the Substance of the Kid∣ney when cut asunder in the middle; and that this Connexion of Vermicular Vessels composing the external Superfi∣cies of the Kidneys, is the same with the Vessels descending to the Renal Re∣ceptacle. And that by the same Micro∣scope are to be observ'd wonderful Branches of the Vessels lying hid under the outward Superficies, with little Glandules appendant, and dispers'd through the Superficies of the Kidney toward the Renal Receptacle: as also cer∣tain continu'd winding spaces and little Concavities running through the whole outward Superficies of the Kidneys, con∣spicuous by the pouring in a little Ink through the Emulgent Vessels: as also in∣numerable little Chanels, which resem∣ble, as seems to the Eye, a sort of Fibres or Liver-like Flesh, but are really mem∣branous and hollow, and by their being crowded together, constitute the Sub∣stance of the Reins, and are the Vessels that discharge the Urine. Moreover, he says, That the Membrane of the Kidney being taken away, and an Inje∣ction of Spirit of Wine dy'd of a black Colour, being made into the Emulgent Artery, innumerable small Kernels are to be observ'd, annexed here and there to double forked Arteries, and dy'd of a black Colour by the said Injection; as also several others between the bundles of the Urinary Vessels, and the Spaces intervening, which little Kernels hang as it were like Apples upon the Vasa San∣guifera, swelling with the black Injection, and spread into the form of a fair Tree. From these Kernels, where the ends of the Arteries lose themselves, he believes it also profitable that the Orifices of Veins arise, and that the smallest Nerves are produc'd from hence, and that the dis∣charging Vessels are extended so far from the Ureter, seeing this is always the property of the Glandules, that the several Berries or Buttons produce their proper discharging Branch, besides the Veins and Arteries, as is done in the Li∣ver, according to what we have said. He has also observ'd that those little Chanels or small Urinary Fibres being very ma∣ny in number, lose themselves in every one of the Papillary Caruncles seated in the Renal Receptacle, and through those sweat through the Urine into the Recep∣tacle; which Piss descends into the Pa∣pillary Caruncles, not thorough any of the little Pores of the Pelvis, as was for∣merly thought, but through these Cha∣nels only, and out of them into the Re∣nal Receptacle. And as for those Papil∣lary Tunicles (of which some are round, others flat or oblong) he believes 'em to be nothing else but the Concourse of ma∣ny small Chanels united together. He adds, That he certainly knows by dili∣gent and frequently repeated Dissection, that in the Kidney of a Man, the Uri∣nary Vessels that resemble solid and compacted sleshy Fibres, and yet are hol∣low,

end in the said apparent Papillary Tunicles, which with a swelling protube∣rancy open into the Renal Receptacle, and each receive or admit so many little Pipes or Vessels as amount to the num∣ber of twelve, and that the same Urina∣ry Vessels are extended from the Cir∣cumference to those Teats, as to the Cen∣ter.

Lastly, Malpigius annexes a Question, How Gravel and Stones can descend into the Receptacle of the Kidneys thorough those Fibtes and Teats which are so ex∣treamly narrow? To which he an∣swers, That small Gravel may pass through, because the Vessels are mem∣branous and apt to dilate. I rather think he should have said, that the tartarous Substance sticking to the Serum that pas∣ses thorough, hardens into Gravel and Stones in the Renal Receptacle, after it is slid through those slender Vessels, which frequently happens: Sometimes it hardens also in the Vessels themselves, and having broken 'em, fall into the Receptacle afterwards; and if much of that matter be harden'd in those Vessels, and there remain, then the Substance of the Kidneys becomes gravelly and sto∣ny.

XXIV. The Use of the Kidneys is* 1.472 to separate and evacuate the redundant serous Moisture from the Blood, which is carried to 'em, together with the Blood, through the Emulgent Ar∣teries; from which Blood, in its pas∣sage through the Glandules of the Reins, the Urinary Fibres, and the Papillary Caruncles, a good part of the Serum is separated, and distills into the Renal Receptacle or Pelvis, and thence slides through the Ureters to the Piss-bladder. But the remainder of the Blood and mix'd serous Humour (for all the Serum is not separated from the Blood) that is sent through the Emul∣gent Veins to the Vena Cava.

XXV. But how that separation of* 1.473 the Serum is made, is hard to explain. For that the two first things upon which the Explication depends, are altogether obscure, that is to say, the Specific Fer∣mentation, and the peculiar disposition of the Pores in the Reins.

XXVI. For, that there is a certain* 1.474 Specific Effervescency or separating Fermentation in the Reins, or about the Reins, by which part of the Se∣rum, together with the Impurities mix'd with it, is separated from the Blood, three Reasons teach us. 1. First, For that most Diureticks a∣bound with Salt, which causes that Fer∣mentation; nay, many of these Diure∣tics are Salts themselves, as Salt of Beans, Vine-stalks, Iuniper, Prunella, &c. 2. Be∣cause Sudorisics (by which the Serum is separated from the Blood) are very effe∣ctual, whether Salt of Wormwood, Car∣duus, Mother-wort, &c. or such as are endued with an acid Salt, as Vinegar, Oyl of Vitriol or Sulphur, Spirit of Salt, and the like, which cause or increase that Effervescency. 3. For that in cold Distempers, as the Anasarca, by reason of the weak Constitution of the Liver, because there is not a strong and suffici∣ent Ferment prepar'd, for which reason the crude Serum is not sufficiently sepa∣rated from the Blood, nor yet attenua∣ted; thence it happens that very little U∣rine is discharg'd, tho' the Serum abound in all parts of the Body, and distends all the parts with a sensible Tumour.

But how by that Effervescency part of the Serum, with its Impurities, comes to be separated, and what form it assumes to pass alone through those narrow and porous passages of the Kidneys, the Blood being excluded from 'em, who∣ever can demonstrate this, deserves the Laurel.

XXVII. Here the Glandules of the* 1.475 Kidneys assume to themselves a great priviledge, in which very few doubt but that there is a peculiar power of separating the Serum from the Blood. But in regard that besides the Serum, Matter also, slimy Flegm, and other Humours * 1.476 much thicker than the Blood it self, nay, Gravel and Stones are discharged with the Urine; hence whe∣ther this Separation of the Blood be to be ascrib'd to the Glandules alone, was question'd by many; who therefore joyn'd to their assistance a specific dispo∣sition of the Pores in the Kidneys, no less obscure and unknown than the foresaid specific Fermentation, and peculiar power in the Glandules to separate the Serum.

For who, I would fain know, will unfold to us, wherefore the Serum, with the Hu∣mours contain'd in it, separated from the Blood by the foresaid specific Fer∣mentation, descend through the Pores of the Kidneys and Glandules, without any Blood, when in the mean time, the pu∣rulent Matter brought from the Breast, and altogether mix'd with the Blood, has been often seen to pass through the same Pores without any Blood? Thus in the Year 1638. I cur'd a Merchant of* 1.477 Nimmeghen, who was troubled with an Imposthum•…•…, which was at length dis∣charg'd through the Urinary Passages in two days time, with some pain in his U∣reters, two Chamber-pots full of white Matter well concocted, and somewhat thick, and so was free'd from his Apo∣steme. Whereas before the same Mat∣ter (the Fluctuation of which was not only perceiv'd by himself, by reason of his difficult breathing, but also was ea∣sily heard in the stirring of his Body back∣ward and forward) threaten'd him not only with a Consumption, but with cer∣tain Death.

XXVIII. Something to the same* 1.478 purpose I also observ'd in the Year 1639. in a Servant of the Lord of Soulen, who being troubled with an Aposteme in his Breast, all the Mat∣ter was discharg'd through the Urina∣ry Passages, with a terrible pain in the Loyns and Ureters, by reason of the di∣stension of the parts caused by the pas∣sage of the thick Matter. Andrew Laurentius also, Anat. l. 9. quaest. 12.* 1.479 relates a Story of the same nature, by him observ'd in a certain Person trou∣bled with an Empyema, whose Body being opened, he found a certain sort of stink∣ing Matter in great quantity in the Con∣cavity of the Breast and the left hollow∣ness of the Heart, of the same nature with that which came from him with his Urine, which was a certain sign that it came from the Breast through the Heart to the Kidneys.

XXIX. These and such like things,* 1.480 while others consider and observe a difficult Explication of the Matter, they reject the Glandules, and affirm the whole Business to be done by the sole peculiar disposition of the Pores in the Kidneys, that is to say, their Apti∣tude and Structure, which they cannot describe, neither by means whereof the thick Matter finds a passage through them, but the thinner Blood cannot pass. Fling, say they, thin Chaff, Pease and Beans, into a Country Farmers Barn-Sive, the thicker Pease and Beans easily pass through the Holes, but the long thin Chaff remains in the Sive. But tho' the aptitude of the Pores in dry things may occasion such Accidents, 'tis much to be doubted, whether in liquid and fluid Bodies mix'd together, the same thing may happen, especially when neither exceeds the other in fat; that is to say, whether a Substance four times thicker than the Blood, by reason of the said Structure of the Pores alone, may be able to pass through such narrow Pores, which do not only not give pas∣sage to the blood that is mix'd with it, and is much thinner, but stops it. Whether also the blood which is so thin and fluid, that it has been sometimes seen to sweat through the Pores of the Skin, coming to the Pores of the Reins, cannot as ea∣sily, or rather much more easily be shap'd to the form of the Pores of the Reins, than Matter which is so thick, that it can hardly pass thorough the Ureters, but many times extreamly tor∣ments 'em by their distension. And so that Reason, as to the particular Stru∣cture of the Pores of the Reins, seems hardly sufficient to explain the said Eva∣cuation; therefore there is something yet lies hid which no body yet could e∣ver discover: In the mean time, tho' the Cause of this thing do not manifest∣ly appear, this is certain as to the thing it self; and we our selves have seen Mat∣ter carried from the Breast to the Kid∣neys and Bladder, discharg'd in great quantity, without any intermixture of blood.

XXX. But we shall not insist altoge∣ther* 1.481 upon Liquids; what shall we say of things that are solid and hard, are they also shap'd in like manner, so as to be strain'd through the Pores of the Kidneys, without any concomitancy of Blood? Yet there are several Examples of hard things that are discharg'd with the Urine, without any blood attending. Thus Longinus relates a Story of a Vir∣gin, that being surpriz'd with a suddain laughter, swallow'd three Needles which she held in her Mouth, which came from her again in three days with her Urine. Alexander Benedict. l. 3. Anat. c. 9. writes another Story of a Pack-needle, four fingers breadth long▪ which descended into the Bladder, and was afterwards found in the dissected body. Iohn Mat∣thaeus also relates, that a small Iron Nail being swallow'd unawares, was taken a

long time after, cut of the Bladder with a Stone cut out at the same time, (the Stone cleaving round about the Nail, as if the Nail had been the groundwork of the Stone. My Wife swallow'd a small Needle that carried an ordinary Thred, which in three days came from her a∣gain with her Urine, August 8. 1665. N•…•…r did the Needle put her to any pain while it lay in her Body. Iulius* 1.482 Alexandrinus has observ'd little pieces of the Roots of Parsly, as big as a farthing, swallow'd the day before, discharg'd a∣gain with the Urine. Nicholas Floren∣tine* 1.483 reports that a Person, who had eat Mushrooms not exactly concocted, piss'd out again remarkable Bits of 'em with his Urine. Plutarch relates the Story* 1.484 of a Man, who after a long difficulty of his Urine, at length voided a knotted Barly-stalk. George Ierome Velschius Observat. 60. relates another Story of one that was wont to void Grape-stones, bits of Lettice, and Meat, together with his Urine. And of another, that when he drank the hot Bath-waters, frequently voided with his Urine whole pieces of Melon-seeds which he was us'd to eat. Pigraeus and Hildan tell ye of some that have piss'd out Aniseeds and Alke∣kengi. All which things, it is both said and believ'd by most hitherto, do pass through the narrow streights of the Kid∣neys, where the blood cannot make its way. How then will the adapted dispo∣sition and structure of the Pores afore∣said suffice? I hardly believe it. For that such hard and large Bodies, passing the milkie Vessels, should first pass the Vena Cava, and •…•…igh the Cavity of the Heart, thence through the narrow and scarcely visible passages of the Lungs, to the left side insensibly, without any pain or prejudice, and then be conveyed through the Aorta and Emulgent Arte∣ries to the Kidneys, and be strain'd through their Urinary Fibres and Papil∣lary Pores, and that no blood should go along with 'em, surpasses both Belief and Reason, nor can be prov'd by any Ex∣perience, seeing that no Physician or A∣natomist ever found Needles, Seeds, Straws, or any such like things swal∣lowed, either in the Vena Cava, the Ven∣tricles of the Heart, the Lungs, the Aor∣ta, or the Kidneys.

XXXI. These things when formerly* 1.485 I seriously consider'd with my self, and withal bethought my self that they who in great quantity drink the Spaw Waters, and other sharp and diuretic Waters, in half an hours time evacuate forth a∣gain three, four, or more pound of Se∣rum, without any alteration of the Heart; and that it is very unlikely that so great a quantity of crude and uncoloured Serum should so suddainly pass through the Heart, Lungs, and Kidneys, without any prejudice. I began to think that of necessity, besides the Veins, there must be some other Passages through which the more copi∣ous Serum, and those hard Substances already mention'd come to the Blad∣der.

XXXII. And these ways or pas∣sages* 1.486 I suspected to be certain milkie Vessels, which are carried to the Blad∣der through occult and hitherto un∣known ways; and tho' not in all, yet in some men are so open toward the Bladder, that they are sufficient to transmit the milkie Chylus and plen∣tiful Serum, but also solid, hard, and long Substances. And this Conjecture of mine the Observations of Physicians seem to confirm, who have sometimes seen the Chylous milkie Matter evacua∣ted with the Urine. Nicholas Florentine Serm. 5. Tract. 10. c. 21. reports that he knew a young Man about thirty years of Age, who every day voided, besides a great quantity of Urine, without any pain, about half a Urinal full of Milk. Capellus the Physician, by the Testimo∣ny of Bauhinus, saw a Woman that eva∣cuated half a Cup full of Milk out of her Bladder. Andrew Lawrentius has ob∣served several Child-bearing Women to have voided a great Quantity of Milk out of their Wombs and Bladders. Whence it is manifestly apparent that some milkie Vessels run forth, not only to the Womb, but to the Bladder, and may discharge themselves into those parts, if there be no Obstruction, that is, if those Vessels are not obstructed, compressed, or stop'd up by some other means, as they seem to be in most men; which is thought to be the reason that the milkie Chylus so rarely flows to the Bladder. But in re∣gard these Passages are short, and not so winding as many others are, it may easily happen that other solid Substances, besides the Chylus, may pass through 'em, as Seeds, Needles, Straws, &c. But much more easily may a great part of the crude Serum, increas'd by much drinking, flow through these Passages, and be evacuated through the Bladder, in regard so large a quantity of blood cannot be so suddainly run through other

Vessels, and circulate through the Heart. And hence it is that such Urine proves of a watery Colour, differing much in Colour and Consistence from that Urine which is concocted with the blood, which follows well colour'd after the Evacuati∣on of much copious crude Serum, and manifestly shews that it pass'd through o∣ther parts, (than the other crude Serum,) that is, through the Lungs, Heart, and Kidneys, and there obtain'd a larger Concoction. I also conjectur'd that those Liquors which we drink, and whose co∣lour and smell remains in the Urine, are carried the same way; for should they pass through the Heart, they would lose both. Actuarius l. 2. de Iud. Urin. c. 20. relates the History of a sick Person to whom he had given a black Medicin, who soon after made black water without any prejudice. And many times Mid∣wives, by the colour and smell of the Excrements that flow from Child-bear∣ing Women, know what the Woman with Child has been eating before. Saf∣fron being given in drink to a Woman in Labour, in a quarter of an hour dy'd the Birth of a yellow Colour, and yet the Saffron could not pass through the Heart in so short a time, nor from thence be sent to the Womb, much less pre∣serve its Colour entire in passing through so many several Chanels. Iohn Ferdi∣nand Hertodius, fed a Bitch for some days before she whelp'd with Meat dy'd with Saffron, and after he had open'd her, found the Dissolution or Liquation among the Membranes, and the Pup∣pies dy'd of a yellow Colour, and yet the Chylus was white in the milkie Ves∣sels, not tinctur'd with any other Co∣lour. I my self have seen those who have eaten the fat growing to the Kid∣neys of Lambs, rosted, and in a short time voided it all again with their U∣rine. Oyl of Turpentine immediately imparts its smell to the Urine. And Asparagus provokes Urine, crude, mud∣dy, and retaining their own smell. Whereas if such Juices should make a long Circuit through the Heart and other Bowels, they could never come to the Bladder so suddainly, so raw, and yet retaining their own smell. Which are certain Indications that there are certain milkie Vessels occult, and taking ano∣ther Course than the rest, which extend themselves, some to the Womb, and some to the Piss-bladder, and that Li∣quors of this nature, and other solid Sub∣stances, may sometimes through those more open Chanels, reach those parts. Which Vessels, tho' hitherto they were never conspicuous to the sight, nor de∣monstrated by any Anatomist, yet of necessity must be there. Such milkie Ves∣sels extended toward the Teats, are not to be seen, and yet that there are such Vessels, stalks of Herbs eaten the day before, and voided through the Paps, and Broth dy'd with Saffron, flowing out at the Teats of the same Colour, sufficiently declare. Now if these Ves∣sels in the Teats are invisible to the Eyes▪ what wonder that they which tend to the Womb and Bladder should not be dis∣cover'd? However, for the better clear∣ing of this difficulty, I would desire all Anatomists, that they would use a little more than ordinary diligence in the search of these Vessels for the common benefit, to the end that what is now but meerly conjectur'd at, may come to be evident by solid Demonstrations.

Others there are who never thinking of the milkie Vessels, have invented, or at least imagin'd other ways.

XXXIII. Bartholine l. de Lact.* 1.487 Thorac. l. 6. & 9. believes that this same thick Matter, Needles, the mil∣kie Iuice, and the like, and in great Drinkers, and those that cannot hold their Water, the Liquor they drink, nothing or very little alter'd, are car∣ried by a direct and short way to the Emulgent Arteries, and so through the Kidneys to the Bladder. But these Passages are not confirm'd by sight, because those Chanels from the Chyle∣bearing bag to the Emulgent Arteries are not to be found, nor any Branches carried to the Sweet-bread and Liver, of which he also discourses in the same place: and therefore the Lymphatic Ves∣sels seem to have deceived this learned Person, as well as many others. More∣over, grant that the milkie Vessels reach to the said parts, yet how is it possible that Needles, Bodkins, and the like, of a great length, and not to be bent, should pass through those narrow and winding porous Passages of the Substance of the Reins? And therefore of necessity this Invention of so famous a Man, must fall to the ground.* 1.488

XXXIV. Clemens Niloe writes that some of the milkie Vessels are car∣ried to the Vice-Reins, or black Cho∣ler Kidneys, call'd Capsulae Atrabi∣lariae, and that from those the se∣rous Liquors flow to the external Tu∣nicle, and thence farther through the Ureters to the Bladder. But the Hy∣pothesis

falters, or rather fails altogether in this, that the Hypothesis was first to be prov'd that the milkie Vessels are carried thither. Besides, there is no passage from these black Choler▪Ca•…•…kets to the Ureters, but they discharge themselves into the Em•…•…lgeut Veins, or Vena Cava, and so nothing can come from them to the Ureters.

XXXV. Bernard Swalve going* 1.489 about to shew more manifest and shorter ways, writes, that the Bath-waters, acid Iuices, and any Liquor plentiful∣ly drank is easily s•…•…ck't up in the Sto∣mach by the Gastrick Veins, gaping pre∣sently upon their approach, and so are immediately carried to the Heart. But the vanity of this Fiction is every way apparent. For the more plentiful draughts of acid Liquors, whether Wine, or any other Liquid Juice, were re∣ceiv'd by the Gastrick Veins in the Ventri∣cle, must of necessity be carried then to the Vena Portae, the Liver, the Vena Ca∣va and the Lungs, and in so long a way, and passing through so many Bowels, must of necessity be subject to a remark∣able change; and alter their colours, whereas before they are presently piss'd out without any colour at all. Nor could they retain the •…•… inctures of Saffron, Ru∣barb and other things, and be piss'd out as they are with the same hue and smell as they went in. Moreover, by the Confession of Swalve himself, there is nothing thick or chylous canpass through those ways, by reason of their extraordinary narrowness; whereas we find by experience, that Matter, Needles, Milk, and black Physick, has been pre∣sently discharg'd by Urine. Then again, if so great a quantity of cold Acids, as is commonly consum'd in a short space, should be carried through the forementi∣oned passages, certainly the heat of the Liver, Heart, and Lungs, would be ex∣tinguish'd by that same actual Cold, and the whole Body would become cold∣er than Marble, and so shortness of Breath, Dropsies, and such like Distem∣pers would presently seize all those that drink those Liquors: whereas experience tells us that those Distempers are cur'd by Acids.

Thus the Opinions of Doctors con∣cerning a shorter way to the Bladder are very uncertain, among which neverthe∣less our own above mention'd seems to be most probable, till another more like∣ly be discover'd.

XXXVI. Forestus, Duretus, and* 1.490 after them Beverovicius and Laselius, write, that one Kidney being obstru∣cted, the other becomes useless, and lo∣sing its own action, intercepts the f•…•…ow∣ing of the Urine; which Riolanus* 1.491 says has been more than once ob∣serv'd by himself; which he also be∣lieves comes to pass by reason of the sympathy between each other, by reason of their partnership in duty; and hence if the one be out of order, the other growing feeble, immediately lan∣guishes: Which Veslingius also intimates in few words. But in this particular I take Experience to be prefer'd before the Authorities and Opinions of the most learned Men, which has many times taught us the contrary; that is to say, That one Kidney being obstructed, or any other way distemper'd, the other remains sound, and makes sufficient way for the Urine, of which I could produce several Examples, which for brevities sake I omit. Sometimes indeed we have seen, that by a Stone falling down upon one Kidney, the passage of the Urine has been stop'd; which has not happen'd by reason of any sympathy, but because unfelt by the Patient, the other Kidney had been long obstructed before, and yet the Urine having sufficient passage through the opposite Kidney: which op∣posite Kidney being by chance obstruct∣ed likewise, presently the passage of the Urine is quite stop'd up. Which the Dissections of dead Bodies apparently teach us. For many times we have found one Ureter quite obstructed near the Ori∣fice, which the sick Person never percei∣ved in his life time, while his Urine pass'd freely through the other. Nor did we ever observe a total suppression of U∣rine, where the Kidneys were faulty, but we found upon Dissection both Kid∣neys obstructed. The Lord Wede, a Noble man of Utrecht, often at other times subject to Nephritic Pains, found his Urine of a suddain supprest by rea∣son of an Obstruction in his Kidneys, and yet without any pain: Presently that same whimsey of consent came into the Physicians heads, believing that one Kidney was suddainly obstructed, and that the other fail'd in its Office by con∣sent. At length all Remedies in vain attempted, in fourteen days he dy'd. But then his Body being open'd, in both Kid∣neys was found a Stone of an indifferent bigness, shap'd like a Pear, that was fall'n upon the Orifice of the Ureter, and had

quite damm'd up the urinary Passage. Who would now have thought that in both Kidneys two Stones should be fallen at the same time upon both the Orifi∣ces of the Ureters? And therefore it is most probable that long before, one Kid∣ney had been obstructed, tho' he felt no great Prejudice by it, so long as the other was open; but when the Stone fell upon the Ureter of the other Rein, then the Urine was altogether suppres∣sed. Certain it is, that that Suppressi∣on of Urine was not caused by the Ob∣struction of one Kidney, and consequent∣ly not by any sympathetical Affection of the other. It is also farther to be noted that in the Dissections of Dogs, we shall often find in the one Kidney a long, thick, ruddie Worm that has eaten all the fleshy Substance of the Bowel, whereas there could be nothing more sound than the opposite Kidney; which shew'd no sign of Sympathizing with the Miser•…•… of the other.

XXXVII. But tho' it be the only* 1.492 Office of the Reins to separate the Serum from the Blood, nevertheless some more narrowly considering their fleshy Substance and peculiar Bigness, attribute also to 'em the Function of preparing and farther elaborating and concocting the Blood; Which Opinion Deusingius, following Beverovicius, most stifly defends. But if by Concoction he means that Elaboration only, by which the secous Excrement is separated from the Blood, then his Opinion may be tolerated: But if such an elaborate Con∣coction, by which the Blood is made more Spirituous and Perfect, then his Opinion is to be rejected, there being no Bowel that brings the Blood to grea∣ter Perfection than the Heart, from which the more remote it is, the more imperfect it is: Nor can any thing of its lost Perfection be restor'd by any other Part, no not by the Kidneys themselves. For which Reason the Blood must re∣turn to the Heart to be restored to its pristine Vigor.

XXXVIII. Besides the foresaid Of∣fice,* 1.493 others according to the Opinion of Sennertus ascrib'd another Action to the Kidneys, which is the Prepara∣tion of Seed: Which they uphold by several Reasons, of which these are the Chief.

• 1. Because the Kidneys have a pecu∣liar Parenchyma as the rest of the Bow∣els have; now in regard there is a pecu∣liar Power of Concoction in the peculi∣ar Flesh of every one of the Bowels, that peculiar Quality must not be de∣ny'd the Kidneys, which can be no o∣ther than a seminific Concoction, when Straining is sufficient for the Separation of the Serum, and there is no need of Concoction.
• 2. Because the emulgent Arteries and Veins are too large to serve only for the Conveyance of the Serum, it seems most probable that a great part of the Blood being separated from the Serum, is concocted in the Kidneys into a semi∣nal Juice, which is to be further con∣cocted in the Testicles.
• 3. Because when the Seed is suppres∣sed and over much retain'd, the Kidneys are out of Order.
• 4. Because Topics apply'd to the Re∣gion of the Kidneys, prove beneficial in a Gonorrhea.
• 5. Because a hot Constitution of the Reins causes a Proclivity to Venery, lustful Dreams and Pollutions; and the hotter it is, the sharper the Seed is.

XXXIX. But these are chaffi•…•… Rea∣sons,* 1.494 and of no force, to which we an∣swer thus in order.

• 1. That the Kidneys indeed are cer∣tain straining Vessels, whereby good part of the Serum is separated from the Blood that passes through, and falling into the Renal Receptacle flows out again. But this Straining can never be, unless a certain necessary specific separating Fer∣mentation precede, separating the Blood from the Serum; and so the Kidneys do not simply separate the Serum by strain∣ing, but transmits, as it were, through a Sponge, that which is separated by the said Fermentation. Moreover because a great Quantity of Serum is to be sepa∣rated and transmitted, hence there is a a Necessity for larger and greater Strai∣ners. For if so much Serum, separated by continual Fermentation, were to be strain'd through small Strainers, would they be so loose, that together with the Serum separated by the said Concoction, the thinner part of the Blood would al∣so slip through 'em.
• 2. Much of the Blood were to be car∣ried through the emulgent Arteries be∣ing very large for the Separation of a moderate part of the Blood only, for the Blood was not to be depriv'd of all the Serum, to preserve it fluid. But through the Emulgent Veins nothing flows to the Kidneys, as is apparent from the Circulation of the Blood, and the Valves which are placed at the En∣trance of the emulgent Veins into the Vena Cava. Lastly, neither does that

• Consequence follow. Much Blood flows to the Reins, and therefore out of some part of it the matter of the Seed is pre∣pared in the Kidneys.
• 3. Nor does that other Consequence. The Kidneys are out of Order through Retention of the Seed; Therefore the Kidneys both prepare and supyly the Matter of the Seed. For then this Con∣sequence would be as true. The Head∣ach proceeds from the Retention and Boyling of the Choler, therefore the Head prepares Choler.
• 4. Neither is this Consequence true. Topics apply'd to the Region of the Kidneys are beneficial in the Gonorrhea, therefore the Kidneys supply seminal Matter. For then would this be as cer∣tain. Cold Water apply'd to the Testi∣cles stops bleeding at the Nose, therefore the Testicles made Blood to be carried to the Nostrils.
• 5. A hot Constitution of the Kidneys is a Sign of Proneness to Lust, but not the Cause. For this is usual that where all the spermatic Vessels are hotter, there the Kidneys are also hotter. Not that the Kidneys add a greater Heat to the Seed: But the Vapors rising from the hot Seed, heat and warm the Kid∣neys. So that in Brute Animals that are ripe and libidinous, not gelt, you shall perceive a certain seminal Savour and Tast in the Kidneys.

XL. Lastly we may add for a* 1.495 Conclusion, that no specific Vessels are extended from the Kidneys to the Testicles, through which the seminal Matter can be carried thither. That the spermatic Arteries carry blood to the Testicles out of the Trunc of the Aorta, and the Superfluity flows back through the spermatic Veins to the Ve∣na Cava (whose Valves are so plac'd, that nothing can slide through them to the Testicles) and so these Vessels can∣not perform that Office, and as for other Vessels there are none.

XLI. From what has been said it* 1.496 appears, that the Kidneys are Parts that evacuate the serous Excrement, most necessary for the Support of Life. The Question is therefore whe∣ther the Wounds of the Kidneys are mortal or no? We must say, they are Mortal, and that of a hundred wounded in the Kidneys, scarce one recovers perfect Health. Which Le∣thality proceeds not from the Nobleness or Excellency of the Reins, but from the Concourse of supervening Symp∣tomes. That is to say, a vast Flux of blood cutting off the Vessels, Obstructi∣on of Urine, or else the Impossibility of the Retention of it: Great Pain, Inflam∣mation, Exulceration, Apostumation, by reason of the continual Thorough∣fare of the sharp Serum, difficult to be cured; and other Accidents that weare the Strength of the Patient to Death. For tho' the Kidneys are not principal Parts, yet are they such, the use of which we cannot want, which Use being either wholly suppressed or obstructed, Life ceases. True it is that some People who have been wounded in the Kidneys have liv'd, and to the more unskilful have seem'd to be cur'd, but at last the reviving Apostumes have carried off the Patient. Thus Fallopius, Cornelius Gem∣ma, Dodoneus, Forestus, Valleriola, and others, relate various Examples of Per∣sons wounded in the Kidneys who su∣perviv'd for some Years, but at length however they dy'd of those Wounds. But that some die sooner, some later, the Reason is this, that some Wounds are more or less deep, and the attending Symptomes more or less violent. How∣ever for my part in all my five and for∣ty Years Practice, I never saw any bo∣dy wounded in the Reins that ever per∣fectly recovered, tho' I have met with many such Wounds to be cured, espe∣cially when I practised young in the Camp; which makes me admire the Vanity of so many Surgeous, that dare bragg they have many times perfectly cured People wounded in the Kidneys. But what shall we then say of the cut∣ting of Stones out of the Kidneys? To which Avicen inclines, Canon. l. 3. Fen. 18. tract. 2. c. 18. Of which also Pa∣reus writes, lib. de Affect. When it swells and bunches out (meaning the Stone of the Kidney in the Loyns) at that time you must cut near the Kidney, and drain∣ing out the Matter, cure the Gravel with Medicaments provoking Urine. But we must say that whoever has a Stone cut out of the Kidney cannot supervive the Section. 'Tis reported that such a Cure once was undertook and accomplished with Success in Spain, upon a Person condemn'd to die. But if it were true, as is greatly to be doubted, it is to be numbered among the Miracles.

XLII. Here by the way we are to* 1.497 observe, that there is a certain Plex∣ure of Nerves between the two Kidneys under the Ventricle, consist∣ing of a double Costal, and Stomachi∣cal Nerve; From which all the Parts

of the lower Belly borrow their Nerves, of which more l. 3. c. 8.

CHAP. XIX. Of the Capsulae or Deputy Kid∣neys.

I. THE Capsulae Kidneys by* 1.498 Julius Casser are called the Deputy Kidneys, by Wharton the Glandules adjoyning to the Nervous Plexure, by Bartholine the black Choler Cases, or Capsulae Atrabila∣riae.

II. They are two Glandulous Bo∣dies,* 1.499 of which one leans upon each Kidney, where they look toward the Vena Cava under the Diaphrag∣ma, at the upper Part of the Mem∣brana Adiposa, to which it sticks so close, that oft-times it is overseen by the more Negligent, and the Kid∣neys being taken out, is left annexed to the Membrane of the Diaphrag∣ma.

The left Glandule is nearest the Dia∣phragma, the right is nearest the Vena Cava; and the left is placed somewhat higher than the right: But in Brutes for the most part neither joyn close to the Reins, but ly distant about the breadth of half a Thumb, and plac'd some∣what toward the Diaphragma, the Fat lying between.

They are found in that Place where the Nervous Plexure is to be seen, to which they are firmly knit.

III. They seldome exceed the num∣ber* 1.500 of Two.

IV. Their Substance is not much* 1.501 unlike the Substance of the Kidneys, but looser, sometimes of a ruddy Co∣lour, sometimes like Fat.

V. In Shape they are seldome like* 1.502 the Kidneys (and yet I have more than once seen 'em exactly represent the Figure of the Kidneys) but fre∣quently like a piece of flat Past; be∣tween Square and Oblong: Sometimes also they are Triangular and Oval, but rarely Round.

VI. In grown People they are* 1.503 much less than the Kidneys; extended to the Quantity of a vomiting Nut, and the right uses to exceed the left in bigness, seldome the left exceeds the right. In the birth and Children till almost half a Year old, they almost e∣qual the Kidneys; but afterwards they do not grow proportionably to the rest of the Parts; and when the Privities begin to have Hair, they cease to grow any more. However they do not diminish again in grown People, as some have averr'd. For in Consumpti∣ons and Hectic Feavers where all the Parts are emaciated, these remain sound and untouch'd, and preserve their won∣ted bigness.

VII. They are wrapt about with a* 1.504 thin Tunicle, by which they are strongly fasten'd to the outward Membrane of the Kidneys.

VIII. They have an apparent Con∣cavity* 1.505 full of Windings and Tur∣nings, but so little that it will hard∣ly admit a Pea, and therefore more Conspicuous in the Birth than in grown People, which contains a black fecu∣lent. Matter, with which Colour also the Inside of it is also tinctured.

IX. Wharton observes that a* 1.506 great number of little Holes procee∣ding from the very Substance it self of these Glandules terminate into this Concavity with gaping small Orifices, but that the Cavity it self opens into the next Vein, and is there fortifi'd with a Valve, opening toward the Vein, but closed behind. This they send from themselves for the most part to the Emulgent, sometimes to the Ve∣nae adiposae, sometimes they insert a small Twig of the Vena Cava, proceeding out of their Cavity with a large and broad Orifice.

X. They also borrow an Artery* 1.507 from the Emulgent, and sometimes one or more Branches from the Trunk of the Aorta.

XI. They admit very smell little* 1.508 Nerves from the Stomach Branch of the sixth Pair, running to the proper Tunicle of the Reins.

XII. The use of these Kernels is* 1.509 hitherto unknown. Some with Veslin∣gius believe that they help to draw the serous Moisture, and collect the black Choler, which like a Rennet provokes the Separation of the Serum from the

Blood. Spigelius thinks 'em made to fill up the Vacuum which is between the Kidneys and the Diaphragma, and for a Prop to the Stomach in that Part, which is above the Emulgent Veins and Arteries; Others think that they sup∣port the Division of the Retiform'd Plexure of Nerves. Riolanus, That they are of no use in Men grown to Maturi∣ty, but that their Use is only to be sought for in the birth, wherein he be∣lieves they receive a certain Juice ap∣propriated to the Generation of the Kidney Fat; for that in the body of an Infant there is no Fat generated till after he is brought forth into the World, at what time that Juice formerly collected is produced into Act. Glisson believes that they separate the Juice that serves for the Nourishment of the Nerves from the rest of the blood, that it may be carried pure to the Nerves. All which Opinions nevertheless are meerly con∣jectural, and lean upon no solid Foun∣dation. Wharton believes that there is a certain Juice unapt for the Generati∣on of Nerves exonerated into these lit∣tle Coffers from the Plexures of the Nerves upon which they lean; which Juice however flowing from thence into the Veins, may there be useful for other Purposes. But neither is this any other than a meer uncertain Conjecture, for that it is hardly credible that either this or any other thick and feculent Humour could be conveighed through the most narrow Pores of the more so∣lid Substance of the Nerves. Others con∣jecture that there is a certain Rennet pre∣pared in these Glandules, which flowing from thence to the Kidneys, causes there∣in a quick Separation of the Serum from the blood. Which Opinion certainly carries with it great Probability; if the way from these Pasages to the Kidneys could be demonstrated. But what if we should say, That that same black Juice is prepared out of the Arterious Blood, and obtains a certain fermenta∣tive Power, necessary for the Venal Blood, for which reason it flows from them not to other Parts, but endued with the same Quality flows through the Veins proceeding from the Capsulae to the Vena Cava: But neither is this any more than a Conjecture.

Hence because the Use of these Glan∣dules is so little known, I am persuaded it happens, that they were never taken into due Consideration by any of our Physicians: Whereas we find that many Diseases arise from their being out of Or∣der. And therefore it is to be hop'd that all Practisers, both Physicians and Ana∣tomists, will for the future observe these Parts more diligently, and by frequent Dissections of dead Carkasses inform themselves what Diseases their Disorder and ill Temparature may occasion.

CHAP. XX. Of the Ureters.

I. THE Ureters, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 from* 1.510 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 to make Water and 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, are certain oblong and white Vessels, or round Channels pro∣ceeding from the Kidneys receiving the Serum strein'd from the Reins, and carrying it to the Bladder, to∣gether with the Gravel, Choler, Mat∣ter, and other Iuices mix'd with the Serum.

II. They arise from the inward* 1.511 Concavity of the Kidneys, whose va∣rious Pipes meeting and closing toge∣ther, form the Ureter.

III. One is generally granted to* 1.512 each Kidney, seldome any more are found, tho' it were twice my chance to find more; which two Ureters however were united on both sides near the Blad∣der, and enter'd it with an Orifice.

IV. They consist of a thick two∣fold* 1.513 and white Membrane, the outer∣most common, the innermost peculiar. But Riolanus more judiciously acknow∣ledges but one peculiar Membrane, for that there is no outermost common Membrane joyned to it from the Peri∣tonaeum. The Ureters generally are con∣tained under the Peritonaeum, together with many other Parts, but they are not particularly enfolded by that Mem∣brane, nor receive any peculiar Tunicle from the Peritonaeum, as the Ventricle, the Vena Cava, the Liver and many other Bowels and Vessels do. But the peculiar and only Membrane of which they consist, is a Membrane strong, ner∣vous, strengthened with some Fibres, oblique and streight, and Arteries and small Veins from the neighbouring Parts; and furnish'd with Nerves from the sixth Pair and the Marrow of the Loyns, which endue it with an exqui∣site Sense of Feeling: Which little Nerves however Riolanus will not allow

the •…•…reters, believing it enough to ex∣cite Pain, that they are Membranous, seeing that from the distension of a Membrane by a Stone or any sharp Substance, there follows a Pain severe enough to be endur'd. Wherein he mi∣stakes, for that any such thing can hap∣pen without the flowing in of the Spirits through the Nerves, is prov'd from the Palsey▪ in which Distemper the Mem∣branes do not feel, through the Defect of Animal Spirits, nor do they display the least sign of Feeling that may be thought to proceed from their Structure and Composition.

V. These are very small in a Man;* 1.514 about a Handful in length, and about the breadth of a Straw: Tho' sometimes they are very much dilated by Stones passing violently through and with a tormenting Pain; so that sometimes they have been seen as broad as the small Gut.

VI. They proceed downwards from* 1.515 the Reins above the Pso•…•… Muscles that be in the Hip, between the double Mem∣branes of the Peritonaeum, somewhat reflex'd toward the lower Parts, and in some manner, by an oblique Course be∣tween the Membranes of the Bladder, are inserted about the hinder parts of the Neck of the Bladder, and are con∣tinued with the inner Substance of the Bladder, in which place some believe 'em to be fortified with Valves at their Ori•…•…ices, hindering the Return of the Urine from the upper Parts. Which Valves however Riolanus, Andrew Lau∣rentius, and Plempius call in Question, and say that their oblique and winding Ingress into the Bladder stops the Re∣turn of the Urine out of the Bladder, for which Opinion we also give our Vote.

CHAP. XXI. Of the Piss-Bladder.

I. THE Piss-Bladder, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉,* 1.516 is a Membranous Organical Part of the lower Belly, which retains the Serum received from the Kidneys, and at length discharges it as being troublesom either through its Weight or Acrimony.

II. It is seated in the Hypogastri∣um,* 1.517 between the double Tunicles of the Peritonaeum, in the Cavity which is form'd by the Os Sacrum, the Hip-Bone and Share-Bone. In Men it leans upon the Intestinum Rectum, and is joyn'd to the Prostatae Glandules; in Women it sticks to the Neck of the Womb, and in both is fastened to the Share-Bone before; and it is also annex∣ed to the Navel by the Urachus.

III. It consists of a threefold Mem∣brane,* 1.518 of which the outermost in Men, but not in Brutes, being surrounded with Fat proceeds from the Perito∣naeum. The middlemost, which is thicker is endued with fleshy Fibres for Contraction and Expulsion of the Urine: and hence by Aquapendens, and Bartholine, called the enfolding Muscle, by Spigelius the Thruster downward of the Urine. This if it be too much distended by •…•…oo great a quantity of Urine, occasions a total sup∣pression of Urine, because the Fibres of it being too much distended are so weak∣ned, that they cannot contract them∣selves again. Which sort of Suppressi∣on of Urine Forestus writes that he him∣self was troubled with l. 25. Observ. 14. The innermost is thinner, and being of a more exquisite Sense of Feeling is pro∣tected by a kind of Slime from the Cor∣rosion of the Liquor contained in it. This is found very much wrinkl'd in People that are troubl'd with the Stone.

IV. The Figure of it, is oblong,* 1.519 globous, or round, and sometimes, sharp like a Pear.

V. The Bigness is not alike in all,* 1.520 but in some larger, in some less; which extraordinary largeness is occasioned by its frequent and violent Distensi∣ons, by too long a Retention of the Water.

VI. It has one Cavity, which by* 1.521 the Observations of Physicians in some few has been seen distinguished into two, by a Membrane or Fence in the middle.

VII. There are three Holes belong∣ing* 1.522 to it, of which the two lesser before the Neck are open to the Entrance of the Ureters: The third, which is the bigger, in the Neck gives way to the Urine going forth.

VIII. It receives Arteries from* 1.523 the Hypogastries, entring the sides of the Neck, and carrying thither

Blood for its Nourishment: The re∣mainder of which it pours forth through little Veins into the Hypo∣gastric Vein. It admits Nerves from the sixth Pair and the Marrow of the Os Sacrum.

IX. It is divided into Bottom* 1.524 and Neck.

X. The Bottom comprehends the* 1.525 upper and broader part of the Blad∣der; from which the Urachus is ex∣tended upwards to the Navel; which Urachus together with the adjoyning umbilical Arteries in People of ripe Years proves a strong Ligament, pre∣venting the falling down of the Bot∣tom upon the Neck. Of the Urachus see more, c. 32.

XI. The Neck is the lower and* 1.526 narrower Part, which in Men being longer and straighter is carried to the Root of the Yard, and opens into the Urinary Passage or Piss-Pipe. But in Women shorter and broader; hang∣ing above over the Neck of the Womb, and opens itself under the Clitoris, a little above the Entrance of the Sheath or Matrix between the Nymphae. In both Sexes fleshy, woven out of many Fibres, chiefly Transverse and Orbicu∣lar, lying hid among the right Fibres encompassing the whole Body of the Bladder, which constitute the Sphincter Muscle, pulling together the Neck of the Bladder to prevent the Urine from coming away unseasonably, and wind∣ing about the Prostatae, as may be seen in the following Chapter. As for those Anatomists that describe several other Muscles of the Bladder, they do but make themselves ridiculous: As the Ex∣ternal Sphincter, the Thruster down, &c. which are nothing else but the fleshy Membrane of the Bladder.

XII. Over this Neck in Men to∣ward* 1.527 the Piss-Bladder, a little Mem∣brane overspreads it self, like a small Valve, which prevents the Seed which is forc'd toward the Piss-Pipe from flowing into the Bladder, and the falling of the Urine which flows out of the Bladder into the seminal Pipes. Which may be demonstrated if a Bod∣kin be put into the Bladder toward the Piss-Pipe, into which it enters easily without any Obstacle; but not the con∣trary way, unless by the Force of Di∣laceration. This little Membrane is broken by the Immission of a Cathe∣ter into the Bladder, and sometimes is corroded away in a Gonorrhea. Bartho∣line reports from the Observation of Riolanus, that this Membrane is to be found in Boys till twenty Years of Age, but not after that. Which Observati∣on I do not take to be any perpetual Rule. For in Practice we have many times broken this Membrane not with∣out great Pain ensuing, in older Men by immission of the Catheter. Perhaps Rio∣lanus might observe this in the Dissecti∣ons of dead Bodies in France. For the French Youth being extreamly Lustful, and abandoning themselves to their Ve∣nery, and frequently Clapp'd, it may easily happen that this Membrane may be eaten away by the corroding Seed, as it passes through the Channel.

CHAP. XXII. Of the Parts in Men serving for* 1.528 the Generation of the Seed.

I. AFter the Organs of Nourish∣ment,* 1.529 by which the Food is prepared for the Support of the Bo∣dy, which would else decay, Order and Method require that we should proceed to the Description of the In∣struments of Generation, by which the Perennity of human kind which Na∣ture has deny'd to Individuals is preserv'd by Procreation.

II. These Parts are called Puden∣da* 1.530 from Pudor Modesty, as being those Parts of which Man was not asham'd before Sin. But after he had sin'd he took notice of his Ignominious Nakedness, and was asham'd. Theo∣phrastus Paracelsus writes, that Men be∣fore Sin wanted these Parts; but that af∣ter Sin committed they were added by the Creator, in perpetual Remembrance of the shameless Fact he had commit∣ted: And because our first Parents fell through the Temptation of the Devil, therefore to Adam was given a genital Member or Yard like a Serpent, and to Eve a Member of Generation like the Serpents Den. Now whether this be the Reason that the Adamite's Serpent is never at rest but when he is entering Eve's Den, and that Eve's Den with so much Love and Desire receives and

admits the Adamite's Serpent, I leave to others to dispute.

III. These same Privities, which* 1.531 are also call'd Genitals, being in both Sexes not fram'd alike, necessarily we must discourse of both apart: And first for the Generating Parts of Man, in the same Order as the Seed is generated, moves within 'em, and is ejected.

IV. The Genital Parts in Men are* 1.532 such Parts as are design'd for a Man to beget his own Likeness in a Wo∣man. These Parts are divided into In∣ternal and External; of which some ly hid in the Cavity of the Abdomen, o∣thers are conspicuous without: Howe∣ver all these both outward and internal Parts that serve for Generation are two∣fold: Others prepare the Seed, of which in this Chapter; others conveigh the Seed into the Womb, of which in the following Chapter.

V. Among those which make the* 1.533 Seed in the first place occur the Sper∣matic Vessels: Which are vulgarly call'd preparing Vessels, because that formerly it was thought the Blood was there prepared for the Generati∣on of Seed. These are twofold: That is to say, two Arteries, and as many Veins which are more conspicuous and bigger than the Arteries. Some write that they have seen the Arteries bigger than the Veins, which must be preternatu∣ral, and contrary to the Circulation of the Blood (for then through large and broad Arteries more Blood would be carried than could be return'd back through smaller and lesser Veins; whence it is probable that such a thing never happen'd, but that the Anatomists that writ so had a Mist before their Eyes.

VI. The spermatic Arteries carry* 1.534 Blood for the making of the Seed and the Nourishment of the Testicles: Of which, the Right a little below, the Left close by or a little above the Emulgent, sometimes both together a∣bout the Distance of two Fingers un∣der the Emulgent, arise out of the Trunk of the great Artery before. But then the Right ascending the Trunk of the Vena Cava proceeds obliquely to the Vein of the same side, and the Left proceeds directly to the Vein of its own Side. Nevertheless Riolanus has observed that both sometimes proceed from the Emulgent; and sometimes not two but one only to have sprung out of the Trunk of the Aorta, and to have perform'd the Duty of the two. In like manner, George Q•…•…ck a Physician of Norimbergh, observed this single Arte∣ry in a dead masculine Body springing from the forepart of the Aorta, which being divided into two Branches above the separation of the Crural Branches, joyn'd afterwards on both sides to the descending spermatic Vein. And by the Relation of Hoffman, Peter Paw, in the Year 1598. in the dead Body of an old Man, found no more than one spermatic Artery, proceeding from the middle Trunk of the Aorta, ten times bigger than those Arteries wont to appear in others, and ending in the Testicles, be∣ing without question double fork'd be∣fore. But these Accidents rarely hap∣pen, as in that Person of whom Corne∣lius Gemma writes, Art. Cyclog. lib. 2. Often, says he, we have seen three or four seminal Arteries. In the place of often, I had rather he had said some∣times: For the increased Number is so seldom found, that of six Hundred A∣natomists scarce one has seen it: But generally two spermatic Arteries of each side one, spring from the Trunk of the Aorta.

VII. Bauhinus, Riolanus, and* 1.535 others report that these Arteries sometimes are of one side, and some∣times both in both sides are obsorv'd to be wanting, and this they affirm to be the cause of Barrenness. Which thing Reason convinces us, can never be true, seeing that the Blood cannot be carried to the Stones through any other Passages, than through these Arteries; the Veins, by reason of the Obstructi∣ons of the Valves, sending no Blood to the Testicles. And so for want of Mat∣ter (which they affirm to be the cause of Barrenness, not only no Seed can be made, but neither can the Stones be supplied with Nourishment; and by that means would wast and dry up: Or else surpriz'd with a Sphacelus (which is an Extinction of Life and Sense, would fall down; whereas in those Bodies where one or both Bodies are said to be wanting, the Stones were found to be sufficiently swelling and juicie, and a copious Quantity of Seed conspicuous in the seminal Vessels. And therefore there must be some Deceit or Mistake in what they alledge, which proceeds from hence, which may often happen by reason of the extraordinary thinness of the Arteries, that those Arteries might

be cut off either through the Impru∣dence or overhasty Dissection of the Anatomists; and so could be neither found nor demonstrated, which is the reason they readily persuade themselves and the Spectators, that they are wan∣ting through some defect of Nature.

VIII. The Spermatic Veins carry* 1.536 the Blood to the Vena Cava, which remains after the Nourishment of the Stones, and making the Seed. Of these, the right Vein from the right Stone ascending the Trunk of the Vena Cava before, a little above the rise of the Emulgent, enters the Vena Cava; and the left enters the Emulgent on the same side, rarely the Vena Cava. Ri∣olanus also writes that he has observ'd the right Vein inserted into the right Emulgent, which I never happened to see. Into both these Spermatic Veins within the Abdomen, several slender Branches proceeding from the Caul and Peritonaeum, open themselves, by the Observation of Regner de Graef; as also that the Veins do not proceed in so streight a Line as the Arteries. And Do minic de Marchettis, anat. c. 6. writes that he twice or thrice saw the Sperma∣tic Vein, ascending from the Stone into the Abdomen, divide it self in the mid∣way into three Branches, which singly enter'd the Trunk of the Vena Cava.

IX. But least the Blood ascending* 1.537 through them, should slide back to the Stones, they are furnished with many semicircular Valves, like half-Moons, disposed in a double Order, and looking upwards, and so preven∣ting the Return of the Blood. Also at the Entrance of each into the said great Veins, there is to be seen a little Swelling, which is raised by the Valve when distended with Blood, looking to∣ward the Vena Cava, as Rolfincius not without reason, as he believes, con∣jectures, and Highmore shews that Valve in Delineation, in the right Vein one, and double in the left.

X. To each Stone belongs one Ar∣tery* 1.538 and one Vein, and these two Ves∣sels, more above, at their beginning about the Reins, are somewhat distant one from another, but by and by in their Progress joyn together, and are somewhat writh'd one into another, and so firmly fastened together with a Tunicle rising from the Peritonaeum, that they can hardly be separated by Art. Iohn Saltzman tells us of three human Bodies, wherein he observed a left Artery, rising▪ a little above the E∣mulgent, which did not presently joyn to the Vein, but first ascended upward toward the emulgent Vein, passed over it, and wound it self about it, and thence being presently joyn'd with the Sperma∣tic Vein, descended downward after the usual manner.

XI. Thus joyn'd above the Ure∣ters* 1.539 they are carried down to the Groyns, where together with a slender Muscle from the Fold of the sixth Pair latent in the Abdomen (and sometimes another is added from the 21st. or 22d. Pair of spinal Marrow) and the Cremaster or hanging Mus∣cle, they pierce the Peritonaeum, en∣ter its Process, which is the Extensi∣on of the outward Membrane of the Peritonaeum toward the Scrotum, forming the Sheath, wherein several Spermatic Vessels are contain'd toge∣ther with the Testicle; In which Pro∣cess being divided into several small Branches complicated one among ano∣ther with infinite Windings and Circum∣volutions, they proceed to the Testi∣cles. Nevertheless the inner Membrane of the Peritonaeum at that same Opening or Entrance, sticks most close to the side of the Vessels: For that Membrane being broken, Burstenness follows, the Gutt, the Caul, Water and Wind fal∣ling down through the Rupture into the Production of the Peritonaeum and the Scrotum. Now these Vessels afore∣said having thus reach'd the Stones, se∣parate themselves again, and with a winding Course of the Artery quite through the whole length of the Artery, run out as far as the lesser Protuberance of the Epididymis, or winding Vessel, fix'd to the Back of the Testicles, and there again divided first into two, then into several small Branches, return part∣ly to the opposite Extremity of the Te∣sticle, partly lose themselves within the Substance of the Stones. But the Veins divided into very small Roots, are in∣serted into the little Branches of the small Arteries, and with a kind of Net∣work are joyned together one to ano∣ther; sometimes by a meer leaning and touch, sometimes by Anastomoses. But that here are neither observ'd nor al∣low'd any Anastomoses of the little Arte∣ries with the slender Veins is apparent from the Injection of the Liquor into the Arteries, which never enters the Veins. Neither ought these Anastomo∣ses

to be there: For if the Blood could pass through those Anastomoses from the Ar∣teries, nothing of it or very little would go to the Stones, but pass to the Vena Cava far more speedily and more easi∣ly by those broader ways or Anastomo∣ses, than through the narrow and invi∣sible passages of the Stones themselves.

XII. Andrew Lawrentius, Bauhi∣nus,* 1.540 Veslingius, and many other Ana∣tomists were grosly mistaken in this, that they thought the Spermatic Artery and Vein ended in the Parastate or Epididymis; and there was changed into the deferent Vessel, as a Body continuous to it self. Whereas it is appa∣rent to those that look more narrowly, that those Vessels do not enter the Epididymis or Parastate, but the Testicle it self, and that the Parastate may be there separated from the Stone, those Vessels still re∣maining whole, and adhering to the Te∣sticle it self; For the blood enters the Stones themselves, as Regner de Graef, by an ingenious Experiment apparently demonstrates, lib. before cited. That O∣pinion, says he, which holds that the Blood does not enter the Stones, appears to be false, as clearly as the noonday light, by the following Experiment. Thrust in a small Pipe into the Artery, and immit with a Syring, a Liquor tictured with some Colour towards the Testicle, and you shall very neatly discover the Progress of the Arteries, for that the same Liquor having reached the supream part of the Stones, or that part where it first enters, diffuses it self, leaving the Epididymises untouched within the inner tunicle of the Testicles, and runs onward toward the bottom, where while it turns again, it divides it self, and as it were wantons into several small Branches, which sometimes to the Right, sometimes to the Left, diffuse them∣selves through the very substance of the Te∣sticles.

XIII. These Vessels thus complicated* 1.541 and connexed constitute that Plexure, which the Anatomists call Pampino∣formis, as resembling the Tendrils of a Vine, or Varicosus, from its simi∣litude to the crooked windings of the Veins: Also the Pyramidal Body, from its Shape and Figure; as being more narrow at the beginning, and multiplying as it descends, till it ends at the Stone with a broader Basis. Herophylus, as Galen testifies, calls this Fold the Cirsoides Parastate, resembling the winding dilatation of the Veins; which Name Rio•…•…anus also gives it. Others call it the Variciform Parastate, by reason of the Windings and Turnings of the Vessels, which Name or Appellati∣on Vestingius erroneously attributes to the hinder part of the Epididymis: Where∣as there are no such writh'd and compli∣cated blood-conveighing Vessels to be seen in that part.

XIV. In this same Fold sometime* 1.542 happens that sort of Burstenness called Varicosa, when a thick and Melan∣choly Blood happens into those Mean∣ders. Sometimes also a Fleshy Bursten∣ness* 1.543 is here occasioned by the bruising this Fold by a fall, a blow, or by hard ri∣ding; through which Contusion a spungy Flesh grows up, and that fre∣quently to the bigness of two or three Fists: which is rarely perfectly cured, but by cutting away the Stone of the side affected.

XV. However, Regner de Graef* 1.544 lib. de part. Gen. Viror. affirms, That such a Complication of the said Vessels forming a Pyramidical or winding Body, is not plainly to be discern'd in Men, but that a Trunk of the Artery, without any Net-shap'd divarication runs directly to the Testi∣cle, and is divided into two Branches three or four singers breadth above the Testicles; of which, one is absconded under the Epididymis, and the other proceeds forward to the Stone; of the truth of which his own Eyes have been witnesses. And hence he does not be∣lieve there is any such Net-shap'd Con∣texture of small Arteries with the little Veins; which happens otherwise in ma∣ny Brutes, in which he confesses the Ar∣tery to be wreath'd into several Curles and Tendrils with the Trunk of the Vein. But the fleshy Burstenness which happens in this part, as also the Contexture of the Blood-bearing Vessels, conspicuous in the same place, and in the same manner in Men, as in many Beasts, seem to evince the contrary: Unless it were that per∣haps Regner de Graef would have said, that altho' that same contexture in Brutes seems to consist of Veins and Arteries complicated together, that the same in men is form'd of small branches only of the Vein, returning from the Stone. Which whether it be otherwise in Men than in Brutes, I believe to be a very great Question; the Artery crossing it only directly. But because we have not

yet so exactly observ'd it, we will leave the Question undetermin'd, till we have an opportunity to inquire more diligent∣ly into it.

XVI. The Anastomoses of these Ar∣teries* 1.545 one into another, and of the Veins with the Arteries, as unquestion∣able, have been described by many. But Regner de Graef, by Injection of some sort of Liquor into the Artery, and several strong Arguments, affirms and proves, that there neither are any such An•…•…stomoses, nor ought, nor can be.

XVII. From what has been said, it* 1.546 is apparent, what the Arteries, what the Veins perform in reference to their use; that is to say, that the one bring blood, and the other carry back the blood that is superfluous. Whence ap∣pears the vanity of the Opinion of Ga∣len, Bauhinus, Spigelius, and several o∣thers, who extend the Office of these Vessels too far, and talk of I know not what preparation of the Blood, and al∣teration of the Colour to white, whereas there is no such thing perform'd in these Vessels, as appears by Inspection it self; but that the Blood is of a ruddy Colour, which is extracted out of these Veins, as well as out of other Blood-bearing Vessels, neither is there any thing of a whitish humour contain'd therein.

XVIII. These Vessels thus mutually* 1.547 connex'd together, run forward to the Stones or Testicles, which are Genital parts hanging down in the Cod or Scro∣tum without the hollowness of the Ab∣domen, ordaind for the making of Seed. They are call'd •…•…estes or Stones, because they are a testimony of Virility or Man∣hood; and hence it was that the Romans of old admitted only Men to give testi∣mony in all Causes and Trials, rejecting those that were depriv'd of their Testes, as not Men.

XIX. They are two in number,* 1.548 therefore by Herophylus call'd 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, or Twins, partly for the more perfect Generation of the Seed; partly that if one should be lost or maim'd, the other might supply the place and office of both.

The number is rarely •…•…ewer or more; in regard it seldom happens that any one is born with one Stone; tho' such acci∣dents have happen'd: of which Riolan, Borellius, and Regner de Graef, produce several Examples. Very seldom also more are found in one Person, tho' it is said to be a thing familiar to some Fa∣milies. And Fernelius tells us of a cer∣tain Family known to himself, of which all the Males had three Stones. And Forestus, Borellus, and Regner de Graef, and others, afford us several Examples of People that have had three Stones. But seldom of all it happens that any Man is born without any Stones, and yet perform the Act of Manhood in Copula∣tion; yet Cabrolius gives us an Example.

XX. The Stones are pendulous at* 1.549 the Root of the Yard, and there ab∣sconded in the Scrotum or Cod; sel∣dom and preternatural it is that both should be included within the Cavity of the Abdomen, which nevertheless has been seen by Regner de Graef; to which he adds another seen by Francis de le Boe Sylvius.

Riolanus also observ'd one to have been absconded within the Abdomen, in a noble Person, who nevertheless had a numerous Off-spring by his Wife. The same was also observ'd by my self in a strong Man, who nevertheless had seve∣ral Children. Paraeus, likewise Martin Ruland and Bartholine, prove by several Examples, that both Stones have lain hid for some time, either in the Groyn, or in the Cavity of the Abdomen, which that after the hair began to appear, fell down naturally into the Cod.

XXI. In shape and bigness they are* 1.550 like a Pigeons Egg, and sometimes a small Hen-egg, somewhat flat of each side. Yet in both there is some varie∣ty, according as the Vessels adjoyning are more or less swell'd. Generally likewise the left exceeds in bigness the right, and hangs down somewhat low∣er; rarely the right is bigger than the left. Sometime in Veneral Distempers now and then one, or both, grow to an usual bigness, which afterwards when the Disease has been cur'd, I have observ'd to continue as long as the Party liv'd without any prejudice; but this is pre∣ternatural: as is also that which Lazarus Riverius reports, of one whose Testicles exceeded the Stones of a Horse in big∣ness, from which afterward fell very hard pieces of a stony Substance. And no less extraordinary is that which Hil∣dan observes of a certain Person that was troubled with a Dropsie, whose right Stone being grown as big as a Goose Egg, was found stufft full of Hairs intermix'd with a purulent, oily and white matter. Plater likewise gives us an Example of Stones as big as a Man's head in a Person that was very bulky and fat.

XXII. Their Substance is peculiar,* 1.551

there being none like it of all the other parts of the Body, whitish and soft, consisting of innumerable very little small Ropes of the Seminal Vessels joyn'd together in a continu'd Series: in which, altho there be no manifest Con∣cavity to be perceiv'd, yet that the said little Ropes are hollow, and conveigh the Seed invisibly, is apparent, if they be made visible. Now Regner de Graef was he that first taught us the way to make 'em visible to the sight: for he in a Dog, or other living Animal, tyes the Deferent Vessel, by which means the in∣nermost little strings of the little Vessels of the Testicles, otherwise impercepti∣ble, will easily become conspicuously distended, and fill with Seminal Matter. He tells us also that these Vessels appear through a whitish Tunicle full of white Seed in the Testicles of a larger Dor∣mouse: he adds also, that if you put the same Testicles into Water after you have stript off the Tunicle, and stir them a little in the Water, the little Vessels of their own accord, without the help of Instruments, will separate one from ano∣ther, and the whole Substance of the Testicles appear to be compos'd of no∣thing but small Vessels; which he had often made out to the Physicians and Surgeons of Delph. And the same thing he also shew'd me lately in the Stone of a Dormouse, which was so dissolv'd into little small whitish Vessels, that it seem'd to consist altogether of such. Tho' in the mean time it be very probable that in a living Creature there may be some peculiar, tender, marrowy Substance, with certain imperceptible Glandules, in∣termix'd with those Vessels, which in the washing, dissolution, and preparati∣on of those Vessels, is separated from 'em, and disappears. For it can hardly be believ'd that the Stones should consist of little Vessels alone, supported and connected without any other Substance, seeing that in all the rest of the Bowels, Liver, Spleen, Kidneys, Brain, &c. the Vessels that run thorough are supported and fasten'd by the Peculiar Substance of that Bowel, and the Humours contain'd in 'em, by reason of the Property, or peculiar Temper and Formation of the Substance adjoyning to those Vessels, un∣dergo a very great and specific Alterati∣on, which is no more than what may* 1.552 probably happen, as well in the Stones as other Bowels.

XXIII. The said Seed-bearing Vessels of the Stones being once loosen'd from each other▪ are to be extended to a wonderful length, requisite in those places, to that end that the Seminal mat∣ter by a longer stay, and a slower passage, being more exactly and diligently prepa∣red, may attain to a greater perfection.

They are in an Error who write that the Stones are little small Glandules, as not having neither temper, their frame or fashion, their substance nor their use; but are noble Parts that give both strength and vigour to Men. Nay, they may indeed be said to be the principal Parts, as con∣tributing so effectually to the Procrea∣tion and Preservation of Mankind.

XXIV. They receive, as has been* 1.553 said, very small Arteries from the Spermaticks, and send forth small Veins to the Vena Cava and left E∣mulgent. Nerves also they have, ac∣cording to the Vulgar Opinion deriv'd from the sixth wandring Pair, and the twelfth Pair of the Breast. In Novemb. 1668. and again in Decemb. 1670. seeking more narrowly for these Nerves in publick Dissections of Humane Bodies, we observ'd only one little Nerve belonging to each Stone, a little above that place where the Spermatick Vessels seem to make their Exit out of the Abdomea, which joyn'd themselves with the Spermatick Vessels, and so en∣tering their common sheath, ran forward to the Stone, but by reason of its extra∣ordinary slenderness, we could not well observe whether it were some little small branch of the sixth Pair of Nerves, or of the twelfth Pair of the Breast, or as o∣thers, not without reason, will have it, of the twentieth or one and twentieth Pair of the Spinal Marrow; which last seems to me most probable. And so, up∣on view, very few small Nerves, and perhaps but only one, seem to run out to every Stone. On the contrary, Glis∣son however has lately written that he has seen several Nerves in the Stones contributing Matter to the Generation of Seed: which great quantity of Nerves we could never observe in 'em; but very few, and those such as we could hardly get to reach beyond the whitish Tunicle. For they are not conspicuous in the in∣ner Substance of the Stones, as well by reason of their extream Tenuity, as through their whitish Colour; tho' it is most certain that they give Animal Spi∣rits to the blood that flows thither through the Arteries.

XXV. But whether the Blood∣bearing* 1.554 Vessels enter the Substance of

the Stones it self, or terminate in the whitish Tunicle, is by some disputed. Hippocrates seems to be or the first Opi∣nion, Lib. de Loc. in Hom. & Lib. de Oss. Nat. where he writes that certain Veins do run to the Testicles. Where by Veins he understands some of the blood∣conveighing Vessels, that is to say, Veins and Arteries. Others, by reason that the Ingress of these Vessels is so obscure, thought those Vessels did not enter the inner parts of the Stones; they not ap∣pearing within the Stones, but only dis∣seminated through the white Tunicle. But this Doubt will vanish, if we look a little more narrowly into the Use and Formation of the Stones.

XXVI. Their Use and Office is* 1.555 to make Seed, and to that end they are compos'd of a peculiar Substance and innumerable Seminal Vessels wherein Seed is made. But because Matter is requisite for the making of Seed, hence Reason teaches us, that of necessity there must be Blood-bearing Vessels, and little Nerves inserted into those Seed-bearing Vessels, for the sup∣ply and infusion of matter, by degrees to be changed into Seed.

But some perhaps will object, that the ruddy Colour of the Blood-bearing Vessels demonstrates, that there is Blood in them; which Colour however is hard∣ly ever seen in the substance of the Stones, and therefore no Blood-bearing Vessels seem to enter that substance. I answer, that happens through the extraordinary thinness of the Arteries, pressed by the white Seed-bearing Vessels; for which reason in a thousand other parts the little small Arteries and Veins are impercepti∣ble. Besides if a Stone be newly taken out of the Body, and any ruddy Liquor be injected through a Syringe into the Spermatic Artery, several Blood-bearing Vessels will swell up in the midst of the Stone, and so become conspicuous. Lastly, I shall add what I have learnt by experience in Man, That is, in cutting out the Stones of vigorous and healthy Men that have been slain; that for the most part no Blood-bearing Vessels are to be discovered in the inner Substance, no nor in the Stones of living People cut out after the Cure of Burstenness; or at most only some small Foot-steps of such Vessels appear in those sound persons. But in Bodies emaciated by Diseases▪ I have observed several small Branches of Blood-bearing▪ Vessels slightly mani∣fest, but very slender, running through the inner parts of the Stones, which we did not only shew privately to several young Students in Physick, but in March 1663. November 1668. in two Human Bodies emaciated by a long Distemper, shewed the same to divers Spectators publickly in our Anatomy Theater. The cause of which seems to be this: For that as there is in the Brain a peculiar Specific power, by vertue of which Ani∣mal Spirits are made of the Blood in its Vessels, Fibres and Pores, so also there is in the Testicles a peculiar Seminifick Power, by vertue of which the Blood being carried into their Vasa Sanguifera, is altered into Seed. Now this active Power being strong and vigorous in sound People; hence the more subtile and more salt Particles of the Blood, carried through the little Arteries to their more inward parts, together with the Animal Spirits coming through the Nerves, fall into those Plexures or labyrinth-like, and most wonderfully interwoven Va∣sa Sanguifera, and being there received by them lose their ruddy Colour, as the Chylus loses its white Colour in the Heart, and is changed into white Seed, But as for that small remainder of Blood remaining in the Vasa Sanguifera, it is so obscur'd and discolour'd by the white∣ness of the substance of the Stones, and the said Vasa Sanguifera, that it is not preceptible to the sight. But in sickly People whose Stones as well as other bowels are weak, the separation of those Particles of blood which are necessary for the making of Seed, is neither well perform'd, nor with sufficient speed, for which reason the Sanguiferous Vessels are more tumid, and containing more blood than ordinary, and more visible to the Sight. Moreover at the same time the ill separated, and over ruddy Particles of the blood, being affused into the Seminiferous Vessels, are but ill and slowly concocted, and altered into Seed therein, and therefore the Sanguine red Colour appears in some measure here and there in these Vessels. For the same cause it also happens, that in those that are too frequent in Copulation, there is sometimes an Ejection of blood in∣stead of Seed; the Stones being so de∣bilitated by frequent Venery, and over much spending of the Seed, that the convenient Particles of blood flowing into those Vessels, cannot so soon be separated from the rest, nor changed into blood; Now the forementioned Power proceeds from an apt, convenient and proper formation and temper of the Stones, which temper being either altered or weakned by Diseases, or over∣much

use of Women, they also suffer in their Seminific Power: as for the same reason the Power of making Spirits is weaken'd in the Brain.

XXVII. Here a great question ari∣ses,* 1.556 How the more salt Particles of the Arterial Blood infus'd into the Stones, and most apt for Generati∣on, and the watery or white Parti∣cles come to be separated from the red Particles? Which is a thing so dubious, so obscure and intricate, that never any Man as yet durst go about to unfold it: or at least they who durst attempt to say any thing, flying to peculiarity of Sub∣stance and Pores, seem to have hardly said any thing at all. In the preceding 14 Chapter we have told ye, how that in the Liver the Separation of Humours to be segregated from the rest of the sanguin Humours, is performed by small invisible Glaudulous Balls, formerly unknown, but in our times discovered by the diligence of Malpigills, with the help of his Microscopes. Also c. 18. We have likewise shewn ye, that the blood passing through the Ash-coloured Sub∣stance of the Brain, in that passage, by reason of the peculiar property of its Glandulous Substance, and its Pores, lo∣ses its most subtil and spirituous saltish Particles, which being imbibed by the beginning and roots of the small Nerves, are there by degrees more and more ra∣rified and attenuated and exalted to a more refin'd Spirituosity, while the o∣ther ruddy and more Sulphury Parti∣cles are sucked up by the more small Veins, and so by degrees return to the Heart. And thus it seems probable, that the same Operation is perform'd in the Stones. * 1.557 For either some very small, and hitherto by reason of their extraordinary Exility, invisible Ker∣nels, or Glandulous Balls are intermix'd and scattered among the small Vessels of the Testicles, by means of which such a necessary Separation is made: Or else there is a certain white marrowy peculiar substance surrounding the small Ves∣sels of the Testicles, of which the Stones chiefly consist, into which Substance the Arterious Blood being infused, loses in its passage, the most subtil saltish Parti∣cles, of which the Seed chiefly consists, most apt for the generation of Seed, to be thereupon suckt up by the peculiar Vasa seminifera of the Testicles, and more exactly to be prepared, while the other Particles entring the Orifices of the small and imperceptible Veins, return to the Spermatick Veins, and so farther to the Heart. But which of these ways is to be asserted, or whether any other third way is to be determin'd upon, we shall leave to them, who by a more ac∣curate Inspection, or by the help of Mi∣croscopes, shall be able to make a clear discovery. In the mean time there must be something certain and assur'd of ne∣cessity, by means of which the aforesaid Separation is to be performed. For o∣therwise, if by Transfusion alone the blood should immediately flow out of the Arteries into the Seminal Vessels, there would be no reason why it should not all be converted into Seed, but that some part of it should return through the little Veins to the Heart; and more∣over, why its red Colour should not alwa•…•…s appear in the said Vessels.

XXVIII. Besides the Vessels alrea∣dy* 1.558 mentioned, by more accurate In∣spection of Anatomists, and that not so lately neither, many Lymphatick Vessels have bin observed, arising with∣in the Tunicles of the Testicles, meeting one another with several Anastomoses, and ascending with the deferent Ves∣sels upward into the Abdomen, and there emptying their Lymphatic juice into the Vasa Chylifera. They are furnish'd with several Valves looking up∣ward, preventing the falling back into the Testicles of the Lymphatic juice, ascending from the Testicles. These lit∣tle Vessels are easily visible to the Eyes of the Beholders, if the Vasa Sanguifera be but ty'd a little above the Stones, and then the Stones be but stirr'd, for then these Vasa Lymphatica shall be observ'd to swell between those ty'd Vessels, as is daily to be experimented in living Ani∣mals, and human Bodies that have not bin long dead. Now because there is a correspondence between all the Lym∣phatick Vessels and the Glandules, and that their Original is deriv'd from them; hence because they arise from the inner Substance of the Testicles, that is mainly confirm'd which I spoke before, of the invisible Glandules intermingl'd among the Vessels of the Testicles, and separating a Salsugi•…•…ous matter proper for the Generation of the Seed from the Arterial Blood.

XXIX. A strong, thick, hard, slen∣der* 1.559 proper Tunicle is the first Covering that involves the substance of the Stones, called the White or Nervous Tunicle, which being a little rough withinside, sticks every way close to it,

and binds it together, being somewhat soft, for fear of being broken. With∣outside it is somewhat moist, and be∣dew'd with a watery Humour, and ra∣ther in the Extremities than in the Middle, has the Epididymis's cling∣ing to it. By means of this Tunicle, the Vasa Sanguifera, together with the Nerves that penetrate it on every side, more safely reach to the innermost parts of the Stone, and the Lymphatic Vessels more conveniently spring out of 'em.

XXX. Round about this, for its* 1.560 better defence, is enwrapt another strong and slender Tunicle like a sheath, and therefore call'd 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, or the Vaginal Tunicle, which is form'd by the Process of the outward Membrane of the Peritonaeum. Riolanus writes that this Tunicle again is enfolded by a∣nother slender and red Tunicle springing from the Cremaster dilated. But in re∣gard it is nothing but the Cremaster Mus∣cle dilated, it cannot well be taken for any peculiar Membrane enfolding the Stone.

XXXI. The Stones are furnish'd* 1.561 with two Muscles, call'd 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, or hanging Muscles; of which each Stone has one, which both together arise from the Spine of the Share-bone, or as Rio∣lanus will rather have it from the fleshy extremity of the Oblique ascending Muscle; slender, smooth within, and be dew'd with a watery Humour; without∣side rough and fibrous, with their fleshy Fibres encompass outwardly almost the whole Process of the Peritonaeum, especially the hinder part, and so hold up the hanging pendulous Stones; and in Copulation bring 'em upward, that while the Seminary Vessels are evacua∣ted, presently the Seminal Chanels be∣ing abbreviated, and the Stones mode∣rately compressed with the Parastates, new Seed may be carried more easily and speedily into the emptied Vessels.

XXXII. The Testicles thus fortifi∣ed* 1.562 and cloath'd, hang forth without the Abdomen, in a Purse or soft wrink∣led little Bag, call'd by the Latines Scrotum and Scortum, by the Greeks 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 and 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, which by a middle Line or Seam being divided into the right and left part, and interwoven with several Vessels, is form'd out of a Cuticle, and a more soft and slender Skin; and within another slender Tu∣nicle adheres to it, rising out of the fleshy Pannicle, call'd 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, which cleaves to the Vaginal Tunicle with many membranous Fibres. Regner de Graef writes that he knew a Man, who by virtue of this Tunicle (for it could not be done by the Skin, drew up his Scrotum, as he listed himself, and caus'd a Motion in it, at the request of the stan∣ders by at any time, not unlike the Pe∣ristaltic or crawling Motion of the En∣trails. But because voluntary Motions are only perform'd by the Muscles, I am apt to believe that the Cremaster Muscles in that Person stuck to the Tunicle; which Muscles are in some men so strong, that they will move their Testicles and the Scrotum too, if adhering to them, as they please themselves. But there is no Fat be∣tween either Tunicle of the Scrotum, which would be but a burden and im∣pediment to the part.

XXXIII. Some Symptoms of health* 1.563 or sickness are wont to be taken from the Scrotum. For as a Scrotum wrink∣led and contracted is a sign of sane health, so a relax'd Scrotum is frequently a sign of weakness, provided such a relaxation proceed not from any External Cause; by which sign Nurses and Women judge of the health of Infants.

XXXIV. The Seed being prepared* 1.564 and made in the Stones, flows from thence through the Vasa deferentia toward the seminal Vesicle. But which way it comes out of the Stones into the Parastates does not so ma∣nifestly appear: For as the Entrance of the Vasa Sanguifera into the Substance of the Testicles is very obscure, so the way through which the Seed flows out of the Stones into the Parastatae is hard∣ly perceptible to the Eye, which is the reason Anatomists do not agree in de∣scribing it. Highmore writes that in the middle of the Stone he found a certain Body round, white and thick, not un∣like the Vasa deferentia extended from the bottom of the Stones to the upper Part, and strongly inserted into the in∣ner part of the Albuginous Tunicle, and penetrating the Tunicle, and thrusting it∣self into the Head of the Parastatae. That same whitish Body appeared like∣wise to me long before I saw Highmore's Writings, into which all the winding Fibres of the Testicles seem'd to throw themselves, but I durst not assert it to be the Ductus that conveigh'd the Seed to the Parastatae; because I could not per∣ceive any Concavity in it. I saw suf∣ficiently that same strong ingra•…•…ting of

it into the inner part of the white Tu∣nicle of which Highmore speaks; but I could not discern the Perforation of the Tunicle by that white Body; and there∣fore I thought it ordain'd for some o∣ther use, that is to say, to the end that together with other crooked Fibres an∣nexed to it, it might serve to strength∣en the Vessels, as well those that enter the Testicle, as those that are therein contain'd; and thence they hasten'd to∣wards the outward parts of the Testicle to the Epididymis, to prevent a Confu∣sion of all the Parts together: In like manner as in the Inside of an Orange or Citron, certain whitish harder Bodys are observ'd, by which the Vessels that convey the Juice and the Vesicles con∣taining the Seed are fortify'd and up∣held. Spigelius has another Conceit as concerning this very thing: For he says that between the Stones and the Para∣states, at the upper part where they are joyned together, several slender Vessels pass thorough. In like manner Riola∣nus also writes, that there is a small Hole to be found through which the seminal Humour enters the Substance of the Stones, and other three little Branches that run out from the Stone into the Vas deferens. These learned Men seem to have seen something as it were tho∣rough a Cloud, and to have added eve∣ry one a Chip of their own, according to their own Conjectures. But Regner de Graef, through his singular Diligence has illustrated all these Incertainties and made 'em much more perspicuous, who has observed these things of the Egress of the Vasa Seminifera. We have clear∣ly seen, saith he, their Egress out of the Stone, and have found it to be quite o∣therwise than Highmore has described it to Us. For they do not go forth from the Testicle with one thick Channel, but in many Animals with six or seven slen∣der Channels, each of which being bent from side to side, from the bigger Globe of the Epididymis; and meeting together therein with one single Channel run forth to the seminary Vessels. He adds that those slender Channels, while they break forth through the Albuginous Tunicle, can hardly be seen but when they are swoll'n with Seed.

XXXV. The Seed therefore flows* 1.565 out of the Stones into the Parastatae, so call'd because they stand by or are attendant upon the Stones, and being variously writhed and contorted like those crooked Windings of the Veins call'd Varix's, are by the Greeks cal∣led 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, because they stick to the Stones, and as it were lye upon 'em. Now the Parastatae or Epididymidae, (for by both Names we design the same thing, notwithstanding the Distinction of Riolanus) are two white, somewhat hard, oblong Bodies, of which one lies upon each Testicle while they are as yet wrapt up, but still in the Albuginous Tunicle, and is infolded in the Tunicle common to the Spermatic Vessels, and toward both Extreams of both Testi∣cles is most closely fasten'd to the Albu∣ginous Tunicle, but in the middle sticks but loosely to it and is easily parted.

XXXVI. The beginning of these* 1.566 Parastates rises up somewhat swelling in that place where the Varicose Bo∣dy approaches to the Stone; to which it adheres so close that many Anato∣mists, have formerly thought that that same Body did not enter the Stones but the Parastates, and que∣stioned by which way the Blood should come to the Stones. This Be∣ginning is somewhat hard, furnished with no manifest Hollowness, but arising with six or seven Roots from the Stone.

XXXVII. In their Progress the* 1.567 Parastates descending to the lower∣most Parts of the Stone, are for the most part of an equal Figure and Shape, and are folded and twisted together with several serpentine Cour∣ses or Windings, and contain a white Seed. Then turning upward again with a wrinkled and somewhat swel∣ling circular Progress, after their Re∣flexion; they are freed from their closer Connexion to the Stones, and only rest upon their Tunicle, and go forth into one Passage continuous to the Vasa deferentia. From which Vessel they differ no otherwise, only that this proceeds with a straight Course, and they with many Windings and Tur∣nings, and also by reason of their thin∣ness are somewhat softer.

XXXVIII. Vesalius ascribes to 'em* 1.568 a Nervous Substance, Fallopius a Glandulous. But Regner de Graef has lately taught us that neither is true: Who by a singular Dexterity untwisted the winding and folded Body of each Parastate, by warily cutting first the exterior, then the se∣cond Membrane, and so extended

this Body into a prodigious Length, which he writes did apparently appear in an ordinary Creature to exceed the length of five Ells, and to be one en∣tire Vessel containing Seed, straiten'd in its Situation by lateral Contorsions to and again twisted one upon another. He adds moreover, that at the upper part of the Stones, in its Original it is so slender, that it may be compared to a small Thread, but by degrees it grows so thick, that being increased to the bigness of a small Packthread, at length it makes the Vessel that carries the Seed: And from hence he also believes that the Stones differ no otherwise from the Parastates, only that the former consist of sundry minute Vessels, the latter for the most part of one Channel or thicker Vessel, and that the Parastates differ from the Vasa deferentia only in this, that the latter proceed with a right Course, the former with many Oblique or Windings and Turnings, and are somewhat softer by reason of their ex∣tream Thinness. From which Experi∣ment it is abundantly apparent, that there is nothing of a glandulous Substance in the Parastates, nor any thing of ner∣vous, as having a conspicuous Cavi∣ty containing Seed apparent to acute Eyes, which is not to be found in Nerves. But it is necessary that the Seed being concocted in the Stones should pass through those serpentine Windings, to the end it may by a longer Delay and a slower Passage, not only be better ela∣borated but acquire a greater Per∣fection.

XXXIX. As to the Use of these* 1.569 Parts, it is erroneously described by Spigelius, who attributes a seminific Power only to the Parastates, exclu∣ding the Stones from that Office, which he will have only to collect the serous Excrements of that Concoction, be∣cause that in the Stones there is no Seed, but only a serous Humour to be found. Dominic de Marchettis, because there does not seem to be any Hole ma∣nifest to the Eye, through which the Seed made in the Stones, may be emp∣tyed out of 'em again, concludes from thence, that the Stones were only made to cherish the Epididymises with their Heat for the more easy and speedy Al∣teration of the Blood into Seed in those Vessels. But the former tells us no rea∣son wherefore Nature should ordain a greater Part for the separation of Ex∣crement, and less part for the seminific Action. Neither does he shew through what ways those collected Excrements are again evacuated out of the Stones. Nor does the Latter make it appear, how the Stones, which are the colder Parts, should cherish the Epididymises with their Heat. But they both seem to have fal∣len into the same Error with many o∣thers, for that they were both of Opini∣on that the Arteries and spermatic Veins did enter the Parastates and not the Stones, which Vessels, seeing they enter the Stones themselves and not the Pa∣rastates, it is sufficiently apparent that the spirituous Seed being made in the Stones, and from thence ascending tho∣rough Vessels hardly perceptible, is yet farther prepared, and by a long and winding Labyrinth gains a greater Per∣fection, and so by degrees is poured forth into the Vasa deferentia.

XL. Now the Vasa deferentia,* 1.570 deferent or ejaculating Vessels are two white Bodies, somewhat hard, round, in some measure like a bigger sort of Nerve, extended from the Parasta∣tes to the seminary Vesicles porous within, without any seeming conspi∣cuous Hollowness. And yet Regner de Graef, a most perspicacious Enquirer in∣to the Mysteries of these Parts, gives us some farther Proof of this Hollow∣ness, in these Words. The Vas defe∣rens, says he, is endu'd with a manifest Hollowness; which that it may be dis∣cerned, this Vessel is to be opened six or seven Fingers breadth above the Testicle; then force the Breath blown in, or the coloured Liquor syring'd into it toward the Testicle, and you shall find the Vessel di∣stended, and discern the coloured Liquor through the middle of it run in a right Channel to the Stone. Then you shall perceive the Cavity in the Vessel it self rowle from side to side, and lastly to be bow'd by degrees with the Vessel, in the same manner as Serpents and Eeles when they strive to creep with more than usual Swift∣ness, and so with Windings, not circular, but Sideways, runs on to the Bodies of the Testicles. Thus its Hollowness appears toward the Stones, now how it may be observed toward the seminary Vesicles, he tells us a little after. This, says he, if ye desire to know clearly and distinctly, thrust only a little Pipe into the Vas defe∣rens, which being distended either by blow∣ing into it or injection of some Liquor, you shall observe those seminary Vesicles to be speedily distended before any thing

breaks forth into the Urethra. Hence ap∣pears their Error, who affirm that the Va∣sa semen deferentia, or Vessels that carry the Seed, have no Communion with the seminary Vesicles, as being absolutely dif∣ferent from 'em, and that they evacuate themselves through two peculiar Holes in∣to the Urethra, distinct from those through which the seminal Matter breaks forth from the Vessels.

LXI. John Swammerdam, sharp∣ly* 1.571 reproves this last Experiment of Regner de Graef, and asserts for a certain that the Vesiculae Seminariae, or seminary Vesicles have no Commu∣nion with the Vasa deferentia, nor receive any Moisture from 'em; and for the more solid Proof of this, he tells us of a seminal Vesicle that he has at home, inserted in three distinct Places in the Vasa deferentia. This Argument Regner de Graef derides, and in Opposition, bids him shew more than ten seminal Vesicles wherein he can demonstrate that the seminal Vesi∣cles do not terminate in the Vasa defe∣rentia, but the Vasa deferentia in them. Iohn Van Horn, sway'd by the Opini∣on of Swammerdam, writes that the Seed breaks forth through peculiar Holes out of the Vasa deferentia, but through other Holes out of the Vesicles into the Urethra. But Swammerdam re∣jects this Opinion of Horn, saying that it is only true in Bulls, and not in Men, in whom the Vesicles have an Exit in∣to the Vasa deferentia in three distinct Places, but no other Communication with 'em. But I am of Opinion, that that same threefold Egress of the Vesi∣cles into the Vasa deferentia, assign'd 'em by Swammerdam, is rather the Entrance of the said Vasa deferentia into the Ve∣sicles, through which the Seed flows out of the one into the other. For in the Dissections of human Bodies we manifestly find, that the seminary Ve∣sicles being squeez'd by the Finger, the Seed does not break forth out of them into the Vasa deferentia through those three distinct Openings, but in the same place into the Urethra. Which is a certain Demonstration, that the Seed flows forth through those three Orifi∣ces into the Vesicles, but does not flow out of 'em again the same way. Lastly, After he has said all, Swammerdam con∣cludes, that there is a fourfold Matter, out of which the Seed is made. One out of the Testicles; a Second, from the Ends of the Vasa deferentia; a Third, out of the seminary Vesicles; a Fourth, pro∣ceeding from the Parastates. But, in regard that Entities are not to be multi∣plied without Necessity, I know not why so many Matters of one Seed, and so many Parts should be alledg'd for the Preparation of those several Matters. No Man, I suppose, will deny, but that the Seed is compounded of Arterial Blood, and Animal Spirits, and seeing that Spermatic Arteries, together with small Nerves, are carried into the Testi∣cles, and that there is no Progress of either to the Vasa deferentia, the Vesi∣cles or Parastates any where to be sepa∣rately discern'd, it seems more likely, that there is but one seminal Matter, that is to say, Arterial Blood, conjoyn'd with animal Spirits, which is altered and concocted into true Seed in that wonderful Contexture of the Vessels of which the Stones consist, and which flowing from them through the Para∣states, and Vasa deferentia, in those Windings and Turnings gains something to its greater Perfection, by which means it may be preserv'd in the semi∣nary Vessels untainted, till the time of necessary Evacuation. And hence it is that the Experiment of Regner de Graef, seems more consonant to Reason; by which the Communication of the Vasa deferentia with the Vesicles is confirm'd, than that of Horn and Swammerdam, by which it is opposed. For as they pro∣duce the Testimony of Ocular View, so does he, but where Ocular View is deficient, there Reason is to be call'd to our Assistance, and she is to determine concerning the Truth of the Matter. And this Example may help us; for as Spirit of Wine being so thin and subtil, that ascending the Alembic, it becomes Invisible, and cannot be embody'd till descending from thence through the Ser∣pentine Brass Tube set in cold Water, it attains such a Perfection of Conden∣sation, that it flows down into the Re∣ceptacle to be preserv'd for Use. In like manner the several Windings and Me∣anders of the Vasa deferentia, serve to concoct and thicken the Seed, afore it fall into the seminary Vessels. Moreo∣ver as Nature in our Bodies appoints one Part to make the Chylus, which Chy∣lus flowing through the long Meanders of the Intestines, acquires therein a great Purity, and Separation from feculent Matter; tho' the Intestines themselves conduce nothing to the making of the Chylus it self: So is it in all the sperma∣tic vessels, which singly make no parti∣cular Matter conducing to the Compo∣sition

of the Seed, but only the Stones alter the first Matter into Seed, * 1.572 which in its Passage through the other Parts gains some greater Perfection, and ap∣ter Disposition to be preserv'd without Corruption for Use.

Lastly, That some new Humour or Juice, as Chylus, Blood, Choler, &c. may be made, it is not brought to pass by a bare Confusion of various Matters, but by a specific Fermentation of the Hu∣mours in some specific Part or Bowel, without which no other new Juice or Humour can be made of no Humours, as is apparent when those Bowels are be∣come weak and enfeebled by any un∣sound Constitution; for then they are not able to prepare those new Juices. But now if the most noble Seed, which contains in it self a Compendium of en∣tire Man, should be composed out of those four Matters flowing and mixing together in the Ureter from several Parts, as Swammerdam believes, then a new seminal Liquor would be made out of those four Matters simply mix'd and confus'd, without any other peculiar Concoction of those four Matters so con∣fused, appointed and precedent in any other design'd Part or Bowel which is contrary to the Custom of Nature and Reason. In the last place I would de∣sire Swammerdam to tell me, whether that Matter by him call'd the Second di∣stilling from the Ends of the Vasa defe∣rentia; be divers and distinct from that first Matter which flows from the Stones; and if it be different or distinct, as he will have it to be, from whence those Vasa deferentia receive their Matter, un∣less it be from the Stones and their Pa∣rastates, when no other small vessels o∣pen into their Cavities. But to the Bu∣siness.

XLII. One of the Vasa deferen∣tia* 1.573 rises out of the Parastate of each Stone, and creeping upward through the Process of the Peritonaeum, en∣ters the Abdomen the same way through which the spermatic Vessels descend toward the Stone. Now when both are entered the Abdomen, by and by they are divided above the Ure∣ters, and with a reflexed Course run a∣long to the hinder Region of the Blad∣der, and above the right Gut, near the Neck of the Bladder, before they meet together again, are dilated and made thicker, and much about the Sides of that meeting together, stick to the semi∣nary Vessels, into which they open and discharge their Seed, and thence united together, both of 'em vanish in the Pro∣statae of its own Side.

XLIII. The Seminary or Seminal* 1.574 Vessels are as it were little Cells dispo∣sed in Clusters, collecting and pre∣serving the Seed flowing from the Stones to the Vasa deferentia; of which they contain a great Quantity, till being troublesom either in Quanti∣ty or Quality, or else in Copulation, it be squeez'd out, by the Swelling of the Muscles of the Yard, and neighbouring Parts compressing the Vesicles, through the same narrow Passage through which it fell into the Vesicles; and by the same Compression be thrust forward toward the Ureter, through two most narrow Chanels crossing through the middle of the Prostates, and so comes to be eva∣cuated into it, through two very small Holes, through which, the Vessels be∣ing pressed by the Finger, the Seed in dead Bodies is observed to pass through in small Drops, like Quicksilver strain∣ed through a piece of Leather. Here Swammerdam notes that in Moles the se∣minal Vesicles, which in those Creatures are very large, have their particular Muscles with which they are girded a∣bout; but we could never observe any such Muscles in Men. Neither let any Man think it a strange or unusual thing, that any Humour should flow in or out of any Part the same way; for in this case there is a double Motion to be considered; the one ordinary ordain'd by Nature, acting spontaneously, by which the Seed flows out of the Vasa de∣ferentia into the said Vesicles: Another caused by the force of Compression, by which Motion the Vesicles being com∣pressed, the Seed is squeez'd forward to∣ward the Urethra, through the same Hole it fell in, and is evacuated into it; which Motion is to be called violent, whether it be done willingly, or by a strong and sharp Provocation unwil∣lingly.

Some tho' erroneously attribute to these Vessels the Office not only of col∣lecting,

but of making the Seed; seeing that the thinness of their Substance ren∣ders 'em uncapable for such a duty, and for that the Seed is already perfectly concocted and finished in the Parastates and Vasa Deferentia.

XLIV. They consist of a thin Mem∣brane,* 1.575 furnish'd with little Arteries, Veins and Nerves, with which some think the Lymphatic Vessels to be in∣termix'd.

XLV. In length they hardly exceed* 1.576 three Fingers breadth, in breadth and thickness equalling the breadth of one finger; but for the most part somewhat bigger in the one than the other side.

XLVI. They are seated on both sides* 1.577 at the Ligaments of the Piss-bladder and right Gut, at the sides near the meeting of the Vasa Deferentia, a lit∣tle before their meeting, and adhere very close to the Prostates.

XLVII. They are double, divided* 1.578 one from another by a kind of Space, and both emit the Seed into the Ure∣thra through several Chanels, and a peculiar hole for the continual supply of Generation; so that if those in one side should be damnified by Stone, Cut∣ting, or any other Accident, the others being whole in the other side, may be sufficient to supply the office of Genera∣tion; as we hear and see with one Ear or Eye, when the Action ceases in the o∣ther.

XLVIII. Cavities they have, not on∣ly* 1.579 one, but full of windings, and com∣pos'd of several Cells, dispos'd in Clu∣sters, exactly representing the little Cells in the Glandules of a Pome∣granate, to prevent the whole Mass of Seed from being wasted in one Act of Copulation: but that the Windings and Meanders should be able to reserve enough to serve for several Acts of Coiti∣on.

XLIX. To these obscure Passages* 1.580 through which the Seed flows into the Urethra, some Anatomists affix a little piece of Flesh; and Veslingius thinks there is a Valve to prevent the continual Efflux of Seed. But certain∣ly there is no need of it in this place, see∣ing that the narrowness of almost invisi∣ble Passages is sufficient to contain the Seed: Besides, that in healthy People it cannot flow out without a Compres∣sion of the Vesicles; which being once compress'd (whether it be by 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of Seed, or too much heat, or Acrimony thereof, which causes a Titillation of the adjoyning Parts, which provokes them to a Contraction, and consequently to a Compression of the Vessels) it must of necessity flow out, and cannot be hinder'd by any Valve. Riolanus better observes that in young Lads, till twenty years of Age, that never were troubled with the Gonorrhea, there is a Membrane wrapt about like a Valve, so plac'd, as not to hinder the Efflux of the Seed out of the Vessels, but the flowing of it into the Piss-bladder. But 'tis a wonder that Riolanus should allow this Valve or Membrane only to young Lads, seeing it is to be discern'd in elder People, it not corroded by the Acrimony of the Seed in a Gonorrhea, and is also often broken with great pain in elderly People by the Immission of a Catheter.

L. These obscure Passages from the* 1.581 Vesicles to the Urethra, if they be cor∣roded away by the Acrimony of the Seed (which Acrimony is contracted by unclean Venery) or if debiliated or dilated of themselves, they become o∣ver loose in that part (which we have observ'd in old men too much using Copulation) then follows a Gonor∣rhea. And in this manner both Vesa∣lius and Spigelius have observ'd those Passages very much dilated in Persons that have dy'd of a Gonorrhea.

Galen and Highmore tell us of a cer∣tain oily Humour which is pour'd forth out of these Vessels, to smooth and make slippery the Passage of the Urethra, lest it should be injur'd by the Acrimony of the Urine or Seed. But for my part, I could never squeez any thing out of these Vesicles than only Seed; and therefore I believe it to be a thing beyond all doubt, that there is nothing but Seed contain'd in those Vessels, and that the slipperiness of the Urethra does not arise from any oily Humour flowing from the Vesicles, but from some slimy part of the Nourishment of the Urethra, with which that innermost passage is be∣smear'd, which is the reason also of the slipperiness of the Piss-bladder, Guts, and several other Parts.

LI. Adjoyning to the Urinary Ve∣sicles* 1.582 stand the Prostates, which are two Bodies, but so close joyn'd together, that they seem to constitute one Body; they are glandulous, somewhat hard,

whitish, and spungy; flat before and behind, round on the sides, and are wrapt about with a thick Fibrous and strong Membrane, rising from the Va∣sa Deferentia, and the lower part of the Bladder, and closely joyn'd to the Piss-bladder at the Root of the Yard.

LII. They are about the bigness of a* 1.583 Walnut, but bigger or less according to the salaciousness of the Party, or the more frequent use of Copulation.

LIII. They are also furnish'd with* 1.584 some few Nerves, as also Veins and Arteries, chiefly conspicuous in the Ex∣ternal Tunicle.

LIV. These Prostates, tho' at first* 1.585 sight they seem hardly to contain any Iuice, nor to have any Commerce with the Vasa Deferentia, yet in People extreamly Letcherous, that have dy'd presently after Coition, they appear swelling with a slimy Liquor, and many little Vesicles are to be found full of that limpid slimy Liquor, which being compress'd flows into the Ure∣thra by the way of the Seed.

LV. But Regner de Graef has* 1.586 observ'd this slimy Liquor to be car∣ried through many Chanels absconded in the inner Body of the Prostates: and at length meeting all together.

In the innermost hollowness of it, says he, several Passages appear, all which, as many as there are, at the sides of a large little piece of Flesh, evacuate themselves into the Urethra. The Orifices of these are stop'd up with certain small hits of Flesh, lest the Matter made in the Glandulous Body should slow forth at other times than in Copulation, or least the Urine should flow into their Body through those Pas∣sages.

LVI. Then he adds a way how* 1.587 these Passages may be discern'd.

They, says he, who are so curious as to examin these Passages any farther; let 'em first squeez out their natural Liquor, and then swell 'em up with a hollow Straw, at what time being distended with the breath, they will display their Ramifications ap∣parently, at the sides of which little Cells a∣bout the bigness of a Mustard-seed distinctly appear, which when the Passages are blown up, swell together, so that at first sight you would take the whole Substance of this Body to be spungy, and to consist of several round oblong, and several other figur'd Vessels. Now as to the number of the describ'd Ves∣sels that terminate in the Urethra, it is not always the same in all Bodies. Yet we ne∣ver observ'd less than ten in a Man: In Dogs we have numbred sometimes ninety and more, through which this serous Mat∣ter flow'd out of this glandulous Body, be∣ing compress'd. That which is most re∣markable in these Chanels, is this, That there is no such communication of 'em one with another, by means whereof the Wind should burst out of one Chanel into another; for that they are so distinct one from ano∣ther, that one Chanel being blown up, only some part of the glandulous Body is ex∣tended; and the other Chanel being puff'd up, the other part swells; so that the Sub∣stance of the glandulous Body may be di∣stinguish'd into so many Divisions as there are Chanels to be found in it. And thus has Regner de Graef by his singular in∣dustry egregiously discover'd the great Mystery of the Prostatae hitherto un∣known.

LVII. Riolanus observes that the* 1.588 Sphincter Muscle of the Bladder, orbi∣cular, fleshy, two fingers broad, envelops the Prostatae, and that it is in that place separated from the Substance of the Bladder, the Prostatae lying be∣tween; and thence it happens that when they are press'd by the Sphincter, the Seminal Liquor is squeez'd out of 'em: and that at the same time by the same Compression the Bladder is clos'd to prevent the Urine from flowing out with the Seed. But in regard the Seed does not flow out of the Prostates only in∣to the Urethra, but out of the Seminal Vessels chiefly, Riolanus ought rather to have said, that the Prostates and Semina∣ry Vesicles are compress'd together by that same constraint of the Sphincter, and so the Seminal Liquor, together with the Seed collected in the Vessels, is at the same time sent from them to the Urethra. Lindan here asserts two Mus∣cles, of which he calls the inmost the Sphincter, the other the Fascial or Plai∣stred; about two fingers broad, wrapt about the neck of the Bladder, and the Prostates resting upon the Glandules. Upon which, as he says, depends the power of opening or shutting those parts. But in regard that Lindan has only de∣scrib'd these Muscles from his own Spe∣culative Contemplation, never demon∣stratively shewn 'em, we think it but reasonable to question the Truth of 'em till farther Confirmation.

LVIII. The Prostatae in the middle* 1.589 of the upper part, seem to be somewhat hollow'd like a Funnel, and there it is that they admit the Passages of the Seminal Vesicles penetrating through the middle of 'em, which being ta∣per'd at this Entrance, run along ve∣ry small to the Urethra, into which they are open'd with a very slender Exit.

LIX. These Prostatae, as also the* 1.590 Stones, are endued with a most acute sense, and much conduce to the plea∣sure of Copulation. But we are to talk with some distinction, when we speak of the exact sense of these, and of the Stones; for the acute sense is only in the outward Membrane involving these Parts; for in the Substance it self there is very little or no feeling: For tho' both Glisson and Wharton attribute many Nerves to the Prostates and Stones, for my part I could never observe but very few, and those very small which are carried thither, and that those are chiefly dispers'd through the infolding Tunicle.

LX. The use of the Prostates is* 1.591 somewhat disputed. Some think it probable that they add some greater perfection to the Seed which is made in the Stones, and render it more fruitful. Which Opinion, however displeases others, by reason of the small Commerce which they say there is be∣tween the Vessels preserving the Seed and the Prostates. But this small Commerce Regner de Graef endeavours to prove: For, says he, the Piss-bladder being taken away in the middle, according to its length, let the glandulous Body be dissected (so he always calls the Prosta∣tes) and the Chanels of the Vasa Deferen∣tia and Vesicles be closely pursu'd to their Exit into the Urethra, and be separated from the glandulous Body, then putting a little Pipe into the Vessels carrying the Seed, if any Liquor be forc'd into their Ca∣vity by the help of a Syringe, the Seminal Vessels swell with the Deferents themselves, the Liquor flowing strongly through the Hole into the Urethra, which if they be stopped about their Exit into the Urethra, nothing bursts forth out of the Chanels in that place where they are annexed to the glandu∣lous Bodies, tho' the Seminary Vessels be for∣cibly disten led; which would necessarily happen, had they a mutual Commerce with the glandulous Body.

Hence Regner de Graef infers that there is neither any Seed generated in 'em, nor any thing Seminal contain'd in 'em; but believes that what is therein contain'd, is something peculiar, some slimy Liquor, which serves for a vehi∣cle to the Seed issuing out of the Vessels, with which he judges the Seed to be en∣compass'd, lest it should vanish before it comes to the Womb. But in regard that in dead Carkasses the demonstrati∣ons of the Parts are not the same as in living Bodies; the Pores and narrow Passages being then so clos'd, that they will admit no breath to go through, whereas they are passable in living Bo∣dies, I question whether those things suf∣ficiently prove that Experiment of Graef, according to his foremention'd Opini∣on. For tho' he perspicuously explain thereby as well the little Caverns of the Prostates, as the Liquor in them con∣tain'd, and also their evacuating Passa∣ges, yet he does not tell us truly what that Liquor is, of what Matter genera∣ted, and wherefore that Commerce be∣tween the Seminary Vessels and the Pro∣states, is not so little as he describes it, but rather so much, and so necessary, that those Chanels through which the Seed is squeez'd out of the Vessels, ought to run through the middle of the Prostates to the Urethra, and through them empty the Seed into it, at the same time that the Liquor of the Prostates flows into it. Here we are at a stand, and therefore, seeing the Prostates were not placed in vain where they are, nor in vain admit the evacuating Chanels of the Vessels through the middle of their Substance; seeing they are no way bene∣ficial to the Piss-bladder, or to the Eva∣cuation of the Urine; seeing lastly that they contain a certain proper kind of slimy Juice, and being compress'd, empty it into the Urethra, with the Seed of the Vesicles; it seems also probable to us, that there is a great Commerce between them and the Seminary Ves∣sels, and that the Seed carried thither through the occult Productions of the Va∣sa Deferentia, is contain'd in them, or else that they add something necessary to the greater perfection of the Seed, tho' the foresaid Commerce be not so perspi∣cuous to the sight. That there is Seed contain'd in 'em, is apparent from the Observation of Vesalius, related in one that was troubled with a Gon•…•…rrhea, A∣nat. l. 5. c. 13. In one, saith he, that was troubled with a Flux of Seed against his will, when we dissected him at Padua, we found this glandulous Body, when it was divided, no less full of Seed than the Stones themselves: and if we must confess

the truth, all the while of the Dissection, in no part of the Body so great a quantity of Seed, as was found in this glandulous Body, tho' it varied from the Substance of the Stones in softness and smoothness.

If therefore they contain Seed, they are not to be esteem'd such mean Parts as Regner de Graef seems to account 'em. I•…•… he object that their Liquor is not true Seed; however of necessity he must con∣fess, that the Seed without it cannot have its utmost perfection of Foecundity: for if without that Liquor the Seed could be perfectly fruitful, the Prostates would not be given to all Males, but would have been wanting in many as unprofi∣table and superfluous.

LXI. Here also the Opinion of* 1.592 Wharton is to be rejected, Lib. de Gland. c. 31. and of Antony Eve∣rard, who both alledge that there is a threefold different Seed made in di∣vers parts. The first and most noble in the Stones; the second more serous in the Seminary Vessels; and the third more thick and viscous in the Prosta∣tes. And that this threefold matter necessarily concurs to Generation; so that if one of 'em be absent, the Seed becomes unfruitful and barren. But they affirm this without any foundation; neither do they consider that the same Seed which is made in the Stones, in its passage through the Parastates, acquires a greater perfection; and so some part of it is conveigh'd through the Vasa De∣ferentia, through the occult Extremities of those Parts to the Prostates, but the greater part of it is carried to the Semi∣nary Vessels, and is there reserv'd till the time of Evacuation. Neither is there any other Matter which is to be chang'd into Seed, that flows to these Parts, or is concocted or preserv'd in 'em, than that very Seed which is con∣cocted and prepar'd in the Stones. Be∣sides, if there be such a necessity of this triplicity, how shall the Seed be genera∣ted in Animals, which naturally want Seminary Vessels, as certain in Dogs; and is to be question'd in Wolves and Foxes: which Animals however have a very fruitful Seed. This Opinion is by many strenuous Arguments more at large refuted by Regner de Graef, Lib. de viror. Organ.

LXII. Here two things remain to* 1.593 be inquir'd into: First, What is the true •…•…ction of the Stones? Second∣ly, How the Seed, which is thick, can pass through invisible Pores from the Stones to the Seminary Vessels and Prostates?

LXIII. As to the first, our Opinion* 1.594 from what has been said is plainly made out, that the Office of the Stones is to make Seed out of the Arterial Blood, and concurring Animal Spirit.

From this Opinion of ours many de∣part. For Aristotle was the first who taught that the Stones conduce no other∣wise to the generation of Seed, than that they extend the Seminary Vessels by their weight, for the more convenient ejaculation of Seed; whose followers are Fallopius, Cabrolius, Spigelius, Regius, and several others, induc'd chiefly by these Reasons.

• 1. Because there is never any Seed found in 'em.
• 2. Because they have no Cavities or Ven∣tricles to receive and preserve it.
• 3. Because they admit no manifest Ves∣sels through which the Seminal Matter flows in and out.
• 4. Because Fish, Serpents, and many o∣ther Creatures that want Stones, gene∣rate.
• 5. Because it is observ'd that some Beasts have generated after their Stones were cut out: As Aristotle tells us of a Bull that bull'd a Cow, and got a Calf, after his Stones were cut out.
• 6. Because Cabrolius reports Observ. Anat. 3. that at Montpelier he dissected the dead body of a Man that had ravished a Virgin, in whom he could find no Stones neither within or without, but only Semi∣nal Vessels.
• 7. Because the same Cabrolius saw a young Man that had no Stone, who never∣theless was married, and had several Chil∣dren by his Wife.

LXIV. But all these Arguments* 1.595 are easily refuted by the following Rea∣sons:

• 1. Though the Seed be not ordinarily seen in the Stones, by reason of its extra∣ordinary thinness, and the extream thin∣ness of the Vasa Seminifera, or Seed-bear∣ing Vessels, yet does it not follow that the Seed is therein generated. For there are no Animal Spirits to be seen in the Brain and Nerves, by reason of their subtility, yet can it not be thence con∣cluded that they are not generated in the Brain, or that they do not flow through the Nerves. Now how the spi∣rituous Seed is in the Stones, is hence apparent, because it passes invisibly out of them through the narrow straits of

• the Vasa Deferentia, and is only plainly conspicuous in the Seminary Vesicles, in which the thicker Particles of it, being now deposited beyond the power of the concocting Parts, are more thickned, the better to enwrap the more subtile prolific Spirit, and prevent its dissipati∣on. In the mean time, that the Seed being invisible in the Stones, yet may be made visible by Art, Regner de Graef has found out and taught us by this acute Experiment; who ty'd very hard the Vas Semen deferens, or Vessel bearing the Seed in a live Dog; so that no Seed could flow out of the Testicles, tho' at the same time the Matter that was to be chang'd into Seed flow'd in plentifully. In this Dog, after Copula∣tion, he found the Stones and Parastates so swell'd with Seed, that they were di∣stended to a large bulk.
• 2. Tho' they have no manifest Cavi∣ties or Ventricles, that proves nothing to the contrary; seeing there are no Ventricles in the Spleen or Liver, and yet those Bowels make necessary Ferment for the whole Body.
• 3. Tho' they do not seem to have any Vessels in the Substance it self in sound People, yet that they reach to the Stones, and pass through 'em, partly may be seen in crazie Bodies, partly may be prov'd by Reasons; for they are are nourish'd, live, and are sensible, therefore they ad∣mit Arteries and Nerves. From that Nourishment there is something of blood that remains over and above, which is to be remitted to the Vena Cava, and therefore since they cannot send it but through the Veins, of necessity they send forth Veins from themselves. Now then, if these Vessels, which are certain∣ly and necessarily within the said Stones, are not conspicuous neither in the sound bodies of Men slain, nor cut out of the living bodies of such as are burst, what wonder is it, if the small whitish Seed∣bearing Vessels, or those small Chanels through which the Vessels send forth Seed from themselves into the Parastates, and out of them through the Vasa De∣ferentia into the Seminary Vesicles, should be invisible; which nevertheless Regner de Graef has by his singular dex∣terity detected and render'd conspicuous. In the Substance of the Brain there are no Vessels to be found, but several pass through it, and open themselves, and pour blood into it, as is apparent from the innumerable bloody little spots that appear in the dissected Substance. Nei∣ther are any passages to be seen in the Nerves, yet that Animal Spirits perpe∣tually flow through their invisible Pores, is not to be question'd. In like manner the most subtile Arterial Blood, pene∣trating through the smallest Arteries to the inner parts of the Stones, and the Animal Spirits may enter the Stones through the Nerves, and the spiritous Seed being made, may again issue forth out of them through other invisible Chanels, and so be conveigh'd through the Vasa Deferentia to the Seminary Ve∣sicles and Prostates; tho' the passages themselves, by reason of their subtility, cannot be discern'd by the Eye.
• 4. Tho' some Animals, destitute of Stones, do generate, it does not follow that the Stones do not make Seed, be∣cause those untesticl'd Animals have something analogous to Stones, wherein their Seed is prepar'd, and according to their nature no less prolific than that which in other Creatures is made in the Stones. Thus in Male-fish we have known that whitish Body, which in our Lan∣guage is call'd Hompsell, supply the of∣fice of the Stones; and that they do co∣pulate is manifest in River-fish, and no less certain in Sea-fish. Not many years ago we saw a Whale that was thrown upon our Coast, that had a Yard six or seven foot long; which Nature, no que∣stion had given him for the sake of Co∣pulation. Hence it is not to be doubted, but that the lesser Fish are also furnish'd with Genitals; which tho' invisible to us, as in Frogs, yet that they have such Members, is plain by their engend'ring▪ or else that they have something else in lieu of Stones. As for Serpents, which as Aristotle says want Stones, that he speaks not true in all, the Venetian Phy∣sicians and Apothecaries well know, who by the Report of Aemilius Parisanus, distinguish the Male-Serpents from the Female by the Yard and Stones. And tho' perhaps there may be many that want Stones, yet in them, as in Fish, there will be something found equivalent to supply the place of Stones.
• 5. That some Creatures are said to have engender'd after their Stones were cut out; this, (if it be true) proceeds from hence, that before the Stones were cut out, the Seminary Vessels were fill'd with Seed, which afterwards being de∣priv'd of Stones, they ejected by Copu∣lation into the Womb; and so begot by virtue of a Seed that was perfected in the Stones before. But such an Act of Ge∣neration can be perform'd no more than once; for the Vessels being emptied, there can be no restoration of new Seed, for want of the Stones and new Matter.

• The last of which Regius perhaps will deny, who believes that same Seed to be only generated in the Prostates and Seminary Vesicles, and not in the Stones; and so tho' the Stones be taken away, the Generation of Seed may go forward in those parts. But this Man holds an Opinion contrary to the Experience of all Ages, which has always taught us, That Men and brute Animals, having lost their Stones, become altogether bar∣ren and unfit for Generation; and that they never recover new Seed, though the Prostates and Vesicles remain un∣touch'd, and without any dammage. Reason also confirms Experience; for out of what Matter should they make Seed, seeing that when the Stones are cut off, the Spermatic Vessels are also cut away that bring Blood for the gene∣ration of Seed? Seeing also that the Matter which is to be alter'd into Seed, can come through no other parts than through those Vessels first to the Stones, thence through the Vasa Deferentia to the Prostates and Seminary Vesicles?
• 6. The first story of Cabrolius proves nothing against our Opinion, because it •…•…ges a preternatural accident that rarely happens: nor is it apparent by the Hi∣story, whether ever the Ravisher ejected his Seed. Moreover, if perhaps he did eject, without doubt there was something in that Person equivalent to Stones, in which the Seed might be made; which Cabrolius perhaps did not observe, be∣cause it was not either by him discover'd or known. Iohn Schenckius writes, Ob∣servat. l. 3. that in Ortelius, a Merchant of Antwerp, there was no Stomach to be found after his death, but that in stead thereof the first Gut was loose, and very fleshie, which supply'd the office of the Stomach. Now from such a rare Accident as this, will any Man conclude that the Stomach does not chylifie, but that the Chylus is made in the Duodene or Iejune Gut? In like manner from this un∣usual Accident of Cabrolius, it does not follow that the Stones do not make Seed.
• 7. From the latter story of Cabrolius it is manifest, That that same young Man without Stones, or so thought to be, had his Stones conceal'd and latent with∣in his Abdomen, and that he did not pro∣create without Stones. Thus Bauhinus tells us of a young Man of about twen∣ty years of Age, who had no Stones pendulous without, who nevertheless was extreamly Lascivious. In like manner I. my self, not many years ago, knew a Man in Upper Holland, that had more Children than Money, that had no Stones hanging down in his Cods: and another I knew in the Territory of Vienna, one of whose Stones is manifestly to be felt in his Groyn; the other no where: and therefore without doubt it must be latent in his Abdomen.

LXV. Therefore it must be taken* 1.596 for a certain Truth, That the Seed is made in the Stones. Now if any one should demand by what power, or af∣ter what manner the Stones make Seed? I shall answer, That that same Faculty proceeds from the propriety of their Substance, their proper Temper and ad∣mirable Structure, fram'd out of the meeting and complication of small Vessels. Which Faculty I shall then more at large explain, when he that asks me the Question, shall tell me first by what power the Stomach, out of the re∣ceiv'd Nourishments, prepares no other Juice than the Chylus; the Heart out of the Chylus makes only Blood, and the Brain out of the Blood makes only Ani∣mal Spirits.

LXVI. But seeing that both Stones* 1.597 make Seed which is equally good, and that there is no reason why it should be better in the right than in the left, 'tis thence apparent in what an Error they are, who write that Males are begot out of the Seed of the right Stone; Females by that of the left. The Contrary to which Assertion, besides di∣vers Reasons which we here omit for brevities sake, daily Experience makes manifest; while several People that have had but one Stone, sometimes right, sometimes left, have had Children of both Sexes. Captain Couper, becoming bursten, by reason of a violent fall from his Horse, and not being to be cur'd but by the taking away of one Stone, had afterwards by his Wife several Children of both Sexes. The same Accident hap∣pen'd to Bernard Z. who when a young Man, had one Stone taken from him by reason of his being bursten; who therefore was wont to brag that he could got more Children with one Stone, than others could get with two: For he was very much addicted to Venery, and had a great number of Children by five Wives, and several Illegitimates.

LXVII. Now as to the other doubt, How the Seed, which is not only con∣spicuous to the sight, but seems to be of a thicker Substance, can issue out of

the Stones through invisible passages, to the Seminary Vesicles and Prosta∣tes, that is done in the same manner in the Seed as in the Blood. For in the Blood some parts are spiritous and very subtile, others thicker and more viscid, yet all fluid, which being mixt together, obtain such a thinness of parts, that they are every where able to pass through the invisible Pores of the Substance of the Parts. For do but shave the Cuticle slightly, and by and by the Blood▪ issues forth through the in∣visible Pores of the Skin, and so insinu∣ates it self into other Pores of other parts of the Body. And thus in the Seed the thicker Particles become so fluid by the thin and spiritous Particles intermix'd, containing much volatile Salt in them∣selves, as also by the peculiar Efferves∣cency rais'd in the Stones, that they may the more easily pass through the most narrow and invisible passages of the Va∣sa Deferentia, though the whole sub∣stance of the Seed, when it is ejected forth, seems to be thicker. The thick and best concocted Seed passes obviously out of the Seminary Vesicles through the small and scarce visible passages into the Urethra, if the Vesicles be press'd with the finger, like Quicksilver strain'd through a thin piece of Leather; where∣fore then may not the Seed, which is now more volatiliz'd before that con∣densation which happens in the Vesicles, in like manner pass through the invisi∣ble passages of the Vasa Deferentia? In immoderate Coition, Experience tells us, That sometimes instead of Seed Blood is ejected, which Blood if it pass through the invisible passages of the said Vessels, why not the Seed? Nevertheless I will not in the mean time deny but that the Seed may be corrupted in the Testicles, upon some Accidents, as un∣clean Coition, &c. and be then so coa∣gulated and thicken'd, that it cannot pass thorough, and then Tumours in the Testicles happen, and other incon∣veniencies. But how any spiritous Humour, containing in it much of volatile Salt, can pass through invisi∣ble Pores, we shall shew more at large Lib. 3. Cap. 11.

CHAP. XXIII. Of the Yard.

I. THE Seed being made in* 1.598 the forefaid Organs, has need of a peculiar Instrument, through which to inject it into the Womb, to which end Nature has form'd the Yard to perform that Office.

II. Now the Yard (by the Latins* 1.599 call'd Priapus, Virga, Mentula, Ve∣retrum, Coles, & Membrum Virile, or Genitale; by the Greeks 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 & 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 & 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉) is an Organic part primarily appointed by Nature for the injection of Seed into the Womb, and secondarily for the evacuation of U∣rine.

This is that Priapus who is the Tu∣telar Angel of Nature's Garden.

Whom Virgins and the youthful Maids im∣plore; But married Women on their backs adore.

That same Inchanter who by his Incan∣tations a thousand ways bewitches the Female Sex. This is that part which makes ripe Virgins run mad, leads ho∣nest Women oftentimes astray, exhi∣lirates the sad and melancholy, and in∣fuses new vigour into 'em: That by its fellowfeeling warms the colder sort, by its ingress weakens the drowsie, and by its rubbing to and fro, makes the torpid lively and chearful, and raises 'em to a high pitch of pleasure. That by virtue of its sweet influence thickens young Mai∣dens about the Hanches, and infuses wit and knowledge into ignorant Girls, by making 'em the nursing Mothers of Children.

III. By reason of these wonders* 1.600 which it works, Plato in his Timaeus, thought the Yard to be a sort of living Animal, and to have its own Moti∣ons and Inclinations, oftentimes re∣bellious and opposite to the Rule of Reason, because it is endu'd with an inbred quality so desirous of Generati∣on. Aristotle also agrees with Plato, who calls the genital Member an Animal, Lib. de Animal. mot. c. ult. But in regard this longing Motion is not only inbred in the Yard, but also in the Brain, and is from thence infus'd into the Yard: and where∣as

one Animal cannot be the intregal part of another; and whereas the Yard is only part of a Creature, compleating the whole with other Parts, it cannot certainly be call'd a living Creature, but only a Part and Member of a living Creature.

IV. It is seated at the Root of the* 1.601 Sharebone. The shape of it is oblong, and for the most part round, yet some∣what flat on the upper side. The thick∣ness and length of it is proper for the Venereal Act, tho' in some larger, in others less. Generally however Men of short stature, who live abstaining from Venery, also such as have large Noses, are furnish'd with a larger Yard: And hence it is that the more salacious sort of Men and Women make a judgment of the largeness of a Man's Yard from the bigness of the Nose in Men; and by the wideness of the Mouth in Women of the wideness of their Privities, according to these Verses:

Ad formam Naris noscetur Mentula maris, Ad formamque Oris noscetur Res Muliebris.

Mens Tools according to their Noses grow, Large as their Mouths are Womens too below.

Also Fools and the most blockish sort of People are said to have great Tools. Which Rules however does not always hold, but are subject to many Excepti∣ons. Spigelius Anat. l. 1. c. 10. judges from the bigness of the Yard, of the Man's more or less proneness to Venery. A larger Yard, says he, rather fills the Womb with its bulk, than waters it with a fertile Seed. For it is not so proper for Venery, which it neither vigorously under∣takes, nor long •…•…tustains; the Muscles that should stiffen the rigid Spear being enfeebl'd by its weight. A smaller one therefore, on the other side is more furious and more f•…•…uitful, in regard that by tickling of the neck of the Womb, it provokes forth the Womens Seed with more delight, and maintains the Combat longer.

Alexander Petronius, Lib. 2. de Morb. Ital. c. 17. conjectures at the Wit and Parts of the Person by the bigness of his Yard; and says that a large Tool de∣monstrates a thick stupid Scull, like that of the Ass.

V. The Yard consists of a Cuticle,* 1.602 a Skin, a fleshie Membrane, and its own peculiar Substance: But it has no fat; for that by its weight and bulk would be a hindrance to the part, and by stupefying the quickness of Sense, would hebetate and take away a great part of the pleasure. But its own proper Substance is most convenient for it; not bony, as in a Dog, Fox, or Wolf; not cartilaginous nor fleshie; but such as may be relax'd or extended properly for the ejection of Seed. Which there∣fore four parts constitute, the Urethra, two nervous Bodies, and the Nut.

VI. The Urethra or Piss-pipe is* 1.603 the lower part of it; the inside of which is cloathed with a thin and sen∣sible, the outside with a fungous and fi∣brous Membrane; and it is continuous to the neck of the Bladder, but not of the same Substance with it: for it is somewhat more spungy, and of a darker colour. So that in the erection of the Yard it may swell and be distended, and then fall again; which things cannot fall out in the neck of the Piss-bladder. Moreover, it is separated by Concoction from the neck of the Bladder, and then the difference of its Substance most ap∣parently manifests it self. From whence appears the Error of Andreas Laurentius, who writes that the Urethra is nothing else than the Substance of the Yard pro∣long'd to the end of the Yard, or the more extended neck of the Bladder. In the mean while, that it has a great com∣merce with the nervous Bodies, is hence apparent, that it swells and flags together with them.

VII. The Urethra is of an equal* 1.604 largeness through its whole passage, ex∣cept in its forepart near the Exit, where the Nut is joyn'd with the ner∣vous Bodies; as being the place where it has a little superficial hollowness, into which the sharp Urine falling in the Stone, while it is mov'd about in that place, causes great pain, and is a shrew'd sign of the Stone: and therein some∣times a sharp Liquor stopping in those that are troubled with the Gonorrhea, causes a very painful Exulceration.

VIII. The Use of it is to conveigh* 1.605 the Seed and Urine: to which purpose several small and almost imperceptible Chanels open into it from the Prostates, and two narrow Vessels from the Semi∣nary Vessels transmitting Seed, of both which we have spoken in the former Chapter, and the neck of the Piss-blad∣der; and there is in it also a little mem∣branous Valve, of which Cap. 20.

IX. Upon the upper part of the* 1.606 Urethra rest two nervous Bodies con∣stituting the greatest part of the Yard. Withoutside they are thick like an Ar∣tery, also thick and hard; withinside thin and spungy, of a black colour in∣clining first to red, as it were filled with blackish Blood.

X. They arise on each side from the* 1.607 lower parts of the Hipbone, and are fasten'd to 'em with very strong Liga∣ments, and meet together about the middle of the Share-bone, to which they are fasten'd with a nervous Li∣gament underneath, but distinguish'd one from another by the coming be∣tween of a thin, pellucid and fibrous membranous Partition. Which Par∣tition, the nearer it comes to the Nut, the thinner it grows; so that before it comes to the middle of the Yard, it as∣cends by degrees from the Urethra to∣wards the back, and thence proceeding a little farther, insensibly becomes so thin, that near the Nut it is hardly to be seen, and so those so nervous Bodies seem in that place to embody into one.

XI. The inner spongy part of these* 1.608 Bodies is fram'd of little Arteries, little Veins, and little Nerves inter∣woven together in the form of a Net, and the spiritous Blood (which flows thither through the Nerves, running thither out of the Privity) being there collected, and growing hot with the Itch of Concupiscence, dilates and ex∣tends those parts, as Bauhinus, Rio∣lanus, and Veslingius agree. Fal∣lopius makes no mention of the Net, but writes that there are two large Nerves, and between as many dilated Arteries that extend themselves as far as the Nut; in like manner that double Veins run forth to the nervous Veins; but that generally in the midst of the separation they meet together in one Vein, which runs through the middle of the back of the Yard among the Arteries to the Nut: and that these Vessels arise from much about the fourth Vertebra, the Aorta and the great Veins that run toward the Thighs, and about the Conjunction of the Share∣bones penetrating through the forked O∣riginal of the Yard, are carried to the back of the Yard. This is a very exact description by Fallopius of the Vessels, of which the smallest Branches open to∣ward the inner spungy Substance of the nervous Bodies: and when the Animal Spirits, with the hot Arterious Blood, flow more plentifully into it out of the Nerves and Arteries, then the Yard grows hot and extends it self: but when the Spirits cease to flow into it, then the more copious Blood and Spirits already within it, are suckt up by the little Branches of the small Veins, and then the Yard falls again. Now that the Yard is extended by the influx of Blood and Spirits, is easily demonstrated in Bodies newly dead: for if you immit Water through a Syringe thrust into the Ori∣fices of the Veins, and then force that Water forward toward the nervous Bo∣dies, we shall find the Yard to be ex∣tended in the same manner, as we find it stiffen'd in those that are alive by the Influx of Blood and Animal Spirits. Ne∣vertheless this same inner Substance of these Bodies is not a meer weaving of these Vessels into the likeness of a Net, as Bauhinus, Riolanus, and Veslingius assert, but it is a fibrous Substance, com∣pos'd of innumerable little Fibres, run∣ning and spreading this way and that way, equally restraining the surrounding Membrane from too much dilatation, and underpropping the little Vessels that are interwoven betwixt 'em; and so recei∣ving within their hollow spaces the Blood and Spirits wandring out of the Vessels through that same Substance. Wharton writes that those Bodies have a glandulous Flesh within, which after a certain manner fills and stuffs up its little Boxes, and defends from too much fal∣ling and weakness in the Interstitiums of Coition. But Regner de Graef demon∣strates and evinces by Ocular view, that there is no such thing as that glandulous Flesh in the little hollownesses, which he proves by an egregious Experiment there at large set down.

XII. At the end of the Yard is the* 1.609 Nut, in Latin Glans, in Greek 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, in which the two foresaid nervous Bo∣dies, with the Urethra, end. The lower part of which, that exceeds those three Bodies somewhat in compass, is call'd 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, or the Crown.

XIII. The Figure of it is somewhat* 1.610 like a Top; the colour of it, when the Yard is fallen, somewhat bluish; when erected red.

XIV. It has a Substance peculiar to* 1.611 it self, fleshie, soft, spungy, exquisite for its sense of feeling, and enfolded with a thin Membrane, and hollow'd with a long hole before. The infold∣ing

Membrane is produced from the in∣ner Membrane of the Ureter, which go∣ing out at the hole, turns back and spreads it self over all the Nut, and en∣dows it with a most acute sense of feel∣ing, which it ought to have first to that end, to excite the greater pleasure in Co∣pulation, which unless it should be, hard∣ly any one would mind the Act of Ge∣neration, and so the race of Mankind would in a short time be extinct. Of which thing Andreas Laurentius thus ele∣gantly writes, Anat. l. 7. c. 1. Hence, says he, the Titillation of the obscene Parts, and the most exquisite sense of feeling: for who would desire such a nasty thing as Co∣pulation, embrace and indulge with so much eagerness? With what face would that Divine Creature Man, so full of Reason and Consideration, be brought to handle the obscene Parts of Women, desild with so many Nastinesses, and for that cause plac'd in the lower part of the Body, like the Sink? What Woman would throw her self into the Embraces of the Male, knowing the Terrour of her nine Months burden, and the Pain of her Labour, which many times also proves no less fatal than painful, or en∣dure the Cares and Toyls of breeding up her Birth, were it not for that incredible sting of tickling pleasure with which the Genitals are endu'd.

XV. The outward part of the Nut* 1.612 is cover'd with a Praeputium; which is compos'd of a Cuticle and a Skin, a little nervous and thin Skin proceed∣ing inwardly from the fleshie Pannicle.

XVI. This toward the lower part,* 1.613 below the hole, is ty'd to the Nut with a little Bridle.

XVII. This is that Praeputium or* 1.614 Foreskin which is cut away by the Jews and Mahometans: and it is a wonderful thing, what divers Persons of great Credit have related to us from their own Observation, that this Part is six times bigger in the Children of Jews and Turks, than in our Chri∣stian Infants: And in some is of a prodigious bigness, even to the breadth of a Thumb, and hangs down below the Nut, till cut away. And Veslingius testifies the same thing of the Children of the Egyptians and Arabians.

This Foreskin in Copulation rolls back from the Nut, and slips below the Crown, by which means the whole bulk and thickness of the Yard is made equal without any roughness: and this repeat∣ed drawing forward and slipping back of the Foreskin in Copulation, is thought to increase the pleasure of Women in Copulation: and hence Riolanus tells us out of Fragosa's Spanish Surgery, that the Turkish and Ethiopian Women co∣vet more eagerly the Company of Chri∣stian Slaves, than of their Circumciz'd Husbands, as much more delightful.

Sometimes it happens that this Fore∣skin is so strait and narrow, that it can∣not be slipt from the Nut, which causes the standing of the Yard to be very painful, while the Nut is straitned with∣in that narrow enclosure: of which sort of Patients I have met with many in Practice, and cur'd'em by Incision of the Foreskin in the upper part: the Lips of which Incision are easily cur'd, but the Nut will never come to be cover'd with the Praeputium afterwards; which is not a straw matter; seeing I have known se∣veral who have had so short a Foreskin, that it never cover'd the Nut, who suf∣fer'd however no Inconvenience for all that.

XVIII. The Yard receives all man∣ner* 1.615 of Vessels. It has two remarka∣ble innermost Arteries from the Hy∣pogastrics, dispers'd first through the Nervous Bodies, at the beginning of whose Meeting they enter, and run along quite the length of the Yard, sending forth little Branches to the Sides: But the outermost Arteries it receives from the Pudenda.

XIX. It sends forth the inner Veins* 1.616 to the Hypogastrics; and the outer Veins to the Privities.

XX. It has outer and inner Nerves* 1.617 from the Marrow of the Os Sacrum; of which two, of a moderate Bigness, run quite the length of the Yard at the lower Part, together with the Ar∣teries and Veins.

XXI. It is mov'd with four Mus∣cles:* 1.618 Of which two shorter and thicker, proceeding from the Tuberous Ner∣vous Beginning of Hip or Huckle∣bone, not far from the Exit are fastened to the Bodies of the Yard, and serve for Erection. The other two longer and slenderer rising from the Sphincter Muscle of the right Gut, and carried underneath, are inserted into the Sides of the Ure∣thra about the Middle, which they dilate for the more ready Emission of Seed and Urine, and also compress

the Seminary Vessels seated in the Perinaeum, or Space between the Cod and the Fundament. And because they hasten forth the little Drops of Seed and Urine, they are call'd Accele∣rators. This Use of the Muscles Regner de Graef absolutely rejects, and ascribes to 'em a far different Function, that when they swell they may compress the Nervous Bodies on both sides, and by that means suddainly thrust forward to∣ward the Nut, the Blood flowing in through the Arteries, and for some time stop the same Blood being about to flow back again, by compressing the Veins, thereby to preserve the Yard stiff for some time. But in regard the Office of the Muscle is only single, by contract∣ing it self to draw the Part to which it is fasten'd, and that the Muscle was pri∣marily ordain'd for that sort of Acti∣on, and whatever happens from it be∣sides that Action of its own, that happens only by Accident; of Necessity, as in all others, so in the Muscles of the Yard, that Action is to be held unquestiona∣ble, and we must of necessity maintain that these Muscles cause the Erection of the Yard, and Dilatation of the Urethra. If by Accident, while they swell, they may somewhat compress the Nervous Bodies, according to Regner de Graef, that does not take away their peculiar and primary Action, nor can it be concluded from thence, that they do not erect the Yard, but only serve for that accidental Use.

XXII. When in the heat of Lust* 1.619 the Animal Spirits plentifully flow in∣to these Muscles and the two nervous Bodies, then the Yard stirr'd with venereal Violence is extended and be∣comes stiff. The manner and Bulk of which Extension all Men understand that are not in the number of bewitch'd and srigid. But that certainly must be a vehement Extension beyond the usual Measure in the young Man of two and twenty Years of Age, which Schenkius speaks of in exercit. An. who without a∣ny trouble for half an hour together carried a Pewter Flagon containing five Measures of Ale, upon his standing Yard, not without the Admiration and Laughter of those that beheld it.

XXIII. The Office of the Yard* 1.620 sufficiently appears from the Definiti∣on, and what has been already said.

XXIV. But in regard that Gene∣ration cannot be accomplished without the Yard, by the Consent of all Phi∣losophers and Physicians, the Questi∣on is whether it can be perfected without Immission of the Yard into the Sheath of the Womb? Reason dictates that it cannot otherwise be per∣form'd, since without the Immission of the Yard, the Seed of the Man cannot be injected into the Womb of the Wo∣man. Yet Experience has sometimes taught the contrary, viz. That Wo∣men have conceived without the Im∣mission of the Yard. Of which Riola∣nus gives us four Examples, one upon his Knowledg, and three upon the Re∣port of others. Lately, says he, we saw a Woman at Paris, who by means of a hard and difficult Labour had her genital Parts torn and dilacerated, whose Nymphae, and four Caruncles were so closely grown together, that they would hardly admit the end of a Probe, and yet this Woman conceived with Child: For the Womb covetous of that Food, had attracted with∣in the Lips of the Privities, the Seed that was shed round about it; as a Hart draws Serpents out of their Holes by the Breath of his Nostrils. When she was ready to be brought to Bed, the Hole was opened by the means of a Speculum Ve∣neris, to that wideness which was requisite for the coming forth of the Birth, and so she was delivered of a perfect Birth safe and well.

A Second he cites that was seen at Pa∣ris in the Year 1609. A Third, he cites out of Clementina 1. Quest. 15. de Consang. of a certain Maid impregnated, the Fences of whose Virginity were all firm and untouch'd. A Fourth he quotes out of Fabricius's Surgery, of a Wo∣man that conceived meerly from the Embraces of the Man, without the Im∣mission of the Yard. A History like to which of a Roman Virgin, to whom the like Accident happened, is related by Henry a Monichem in Lyserus Observat. 13. I my self remember in the Year 1637. being then at Nimmeghen, that I was sent for to a poor Womans Labour, living near the Crane Gate, of whom the Midwife related, that a strong transverse Membrane with a little Hole in the middle, was extended at the Entrance of the Sheath, so strong that she could not burst it with her Finger: This hin∣dered the Midwife from getting in her Finger; and in regard she was much less in a Condition to receive her Husbands Yard, all wondered how she could be got with Child. Upon which the Hus∣band confessed that he frequently try'd

whether he could make way through that Obstacle when he was at the stiffest, but that he never could penetrate or get farther in; however that in the Attempt he had several times spent against that Membrane. Whence I conjecture that the same Seed ascended through the a∣foresaid Hole in the Membrane to∣ward the Womb, and by that means the Woman came to Conceive. I ad∣vised the cutting away that Membrane, and dilating the Part, but her Modesty not willing to admit a Surgeon in the midst of bitter Pangs of Childbed, the Passage being shut against the Birth by that sturdy Membrane, she lost both her own and the Life of the Child. By all which Examples it appears that sometimes there may be a Conception without Immission. But these are Ac∣cidents that rarely happen, whose Ex∣amples constitute no Rule, in regard that Husbands rarely complain of such kind of Obstacles.

XXV. The Parts next adjoyning* 1.621 to the Yard are called by various Names. The Part above is called Pubes; to the Parts on each Side are given the Name of Inguina or the Groyns: The Part from the Root of the Cod to the Fundament is called the Perinaeum, from 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 to flow about, because that Part is gene∣rally moist with Sweat. All which Parts, the Pubes, the Groyns, Perinaeum, Scrotum, to the Circuit of the Podex in People grown to mature Age abound with Hair, with which Nature would in some Measure cover the secret Parts. Which Hair both in Men and Women, begins to appear about the fourteenth Year, when riper Reason distinguishes Vice from Vertue. Riolanus also ob∣serves that in Women who have no Perinaeum; seldom any Hair grows about the Podex, unless when they come to be very Old.

CHAP. XXIV. Of the secret Parts of Women serving to the Generation of Seed and Eggs.

I. IN the foregoing Chapters we* 1.622 have explained the genital Parts of Men: Order therefore re∣quires that we should now proceed to the generative Parts of Women, that is, to the Description of those Parts, that involve Women in a thousand Miseries, enervate Men a thousand manners of ways, by means of which weak and feeble Women triumph o∣ver the strongest of Men. Parts which have ruined many the most po∣tent Kings, destroy'd Emperors, made wise Men Fools, deceived the Learned, seduced the Prudent, thrown the Sound into most shameful Distempers, impo∣verished the Rich, and vanquished the stoutest Hero's: That hurried holy Da∣vid into Sin, led away Salomon to Ido∣latry, prostrated the Strength of Samp∣son, and compell'd the stoutest Hercules to the Distaff; for whose Sake Sichem was laid wast, Ilium ruined, and many Kingdoms have been depopulated: I say to the Description of those Parts, which alone by some peculiar sorts of Inchantments are able to drive the Minds of most Men, and those the most Pru∣dent, to Distraction, while they think these to be the sweetest and the fairest Parts in Women, which are the most foul and nasty in her whole Body, sor∣did and diseased Parts; besmear'd with ugly Blood and Matter, defil'd with hourly Piss: Smelling of Sulphur and Puddle-Water, and as if unworthy to be seen placed by Nature in the most remote and secret Part of the whole Bo∣dy, next to the Anus and its Dung; being the Sink of all the Nastiness and Uncleanness of her Body. To the De∣scription of those Parts in which, tho' the Barathrum of all the Nastiness of Womans Body, the proudest of Crea∣tures, in a short time to ascend Heaven it self, even Man himself is conceiv'd, delineated, form'd and brought to Per∣fection by the Will of the first Crea∣tor; that afterwards calling to mind his abject Beginning, his sordid and un∣clean Domicil, he might not swell with Pride, nor erect his Bristles against his Creator, but with all Humility admire the Omnipotency of God; and adore his Divine Sublimity and Majesty with due Veneration; and implore from him another better, more blessed, and eter∣nal Habitation for his Soul in Heaven, not to be obtained but through his Im∣mense Clemency and Mercy.

II. Now these Parts serving for* 1.623 Generation in Women, are twofold; some are ordered for the making and passage of the Seed or Eggs; and o∣thers for Conception.

III. In the making of Eggs sundry* 1.624 Parts are of great Use: Among which we meet first with the prepa∣ring Vessels, which are twofold, Ar∣teries, and Spermatic Veins.

IV. The Spermatic Arteries are* 1.625 two, proceeding under the Emulgent from the Aorta, and carrying spiri∣tuous Blood to the Stones for their Nourishment and the making of Eggs. The left of these Arteries Riolanus re∣ports that he himself has seen in many Women to spring from the Emulgent, which I could never see in my Life. Bartholine also writes that he has obser∣ved a Defect of both. What is to be thought concerning this Matter has been above declared C. 22. Regner de Graef has accurately noted how these Arteries descend from their Beginning to the Stones. The Spermatic Arteries of Wo∣men, says he, differ from the Spermatic Arteries of Men, for those which in Men hasten with a direct Course to the Stones, in Women are sometimes wreathed into various Curles, imitating the Shoots and Tendrils of Vines; and sometimes winding from side to side, with a Serpentine Course approach the Stones, and that more nume∣rously in the one than the other Side, and seldom are ordered after the same man∣ner as in Men.

With these Arteries descending by the Sides of the Womb, on both sides meets the Hypogastric Artery; ascending by the same sides with a winding and ser∣pentine Course, which as some thought, clos'd together by Anastomoses with the Spermatic Artery; but quite contrary to all Sense and Reason, when the Blood of the Arteries forc'd upward and downward by the Pulsation of the Heart, cannot be forc'd upward and downward out of one Artery into another: For so either two contrary Motions must be granted in the same Artery, which is absur'd; or the Blood of both Arteries would meet one with the other, and so not be able to flow any farther, but of necessity must stop by the way.

V. The Spermatic Veins are like∣wise* 1.626 two, carrying back the Blood that remains after the Nourishment of the Stones and Eggs, to the Vena Ca∣va. The Right Vein of these two as∣cends from the Testicle to the Trunk of the Vena Cava, below the Emul∣gent, but the Left ascends to the E∣mulgent it self, and opens into it af∣ter the same manner as in Men. Saltzman observ'd these Veins double on both Sides in a certain Woman, as he testifies in his Observat. Anat. But this happens very rarely.

Both these Vessels are shorter than in Men, because that the Stones of Wo∣men do not hang forth without the Ab∣domen; and somewhat separated above, but in their Progress toward the lower Parts, they go joyn'd both together, and are closely knit together with a Tunicle proceeding from the Peritonaeum. Ne∣vertheless they do not fall out of the Pe∣ritonaeum, but are divided into two Branches near the Stones, of which the uppermost is inserted into the Stone with a threefold Root, and in its En∣trance constitutes a watry Body, but somewhat obscure, according to the Opinion of Ruffus Ephesius, to which Dominic de Marchettis subscribes: The other is divided below the Stones into three Branches, of which the one goes to the bottom of the Womb; another approaches the Tube and round Liga∣ment; a Third, creeping through the sides of the Womb under the common Membrane, ends in the Neck of it, wherein being divided into most slender Branches, it mixes with the Hypogastric Vessels turn'd upwards, in the form of a Net. Through which Passage some∣times the Flowers flow from some Women with Child, and not from the inner Con∣cavity of the Womb. Which Blood however at that time, flows not thither so plentifully through the Spermatic Vessels as through the Hypogastrics.

VI. Besides these little Vasa San∣guifera,* 1.627 there are very small Nerves that run forth to the Stones from the sixth Pair, and the Lumballs.

VII. Wharton also believes there* 1.628 are some Lymphatic Vessels that run between the rest of the Vessels; which also was observ'd by Regner de Graef.

VIII. To the Spermatic Vessels be∣low* 1.629 adhere the Stones, whose Histo∣ry before we begin, it behoves us to promise a few things. That is to say, that in our times, wherein many Secrets lying hid in the Body are brought to Sight by Anatomy, by the same Dili∣gence of Anatomists, the unknown Ova∣ries, and Eggs in Womens Privities have been discovered, by which means it has been found that their Testicles are real Ovaries, wherein real Eggs are bred and contain'd, as in the Ovaries of Fowl.

This new Invention easily drew to it self the Lovers of Novelty: But others desirous of a more accurate View joyn'd with Reason, could not be so easily per∣suaded to believe it. But afterwards, when upon a clearer Demonstration of these Eggs, men still took more Pains, it came to this at length, that no Ana∣tomists of Repute and Experience make any farther Doubt of them.

IX. The first Discovery of these* 1.630 Ovaries and Eggs we owe to John Van Horn, an Anatomist of Ley∣den, who published this his Discovery in an Epistle to Rolfinch, printed 1668. By whom other Anatomists being incited, resolv'd to go on with what Van Horn, snatch'd away by an untimely Death, could not live to bring to Perfection: Among whom, Regner de Graef, Physician of Delph, deserves the Laurel, tho' to the great Damage of the Art of Anatomy, snatch∣ed away likewise in the Flower of his Age, who put forth his accurate Disco∣very with elegant Cuts, and his own Spe∣culations upon the History of Eggs, in the beginning of the Year 1672. Whom, some Months after followed Iohn Swam∣merdam, a Physician of Amsterdam, who nevertheless in his little Book which he calls the Miracle of Nature, contends most sharply with Regner de Graef for the first little Honour of putting forth Cuts, and that with so much Heat, that he seems to besmear the whole Ova∣ry together with the Eggs, not with Honey, but with most bitter Gall, com∣plaining, that he could not prevent the other with a more early Edition of his Book.

That Womens Stones are ordained for the generating of Seed, tho' not so perfect as is the Seed in Men; and that this Seed is infused partly into the Womb, partly into the Uterine Sheath, from these Stones through the Fallopian Tubes, and other Passages describ'd by other Persons, in former Ages even till our times, was written and taken for granted by all Physicians and Anato∣mists, so that it was by my self held for a thing not to be controverted: Which was the reason that I wrested some Ar∣guments against this new Invention of Eggs and Ovaries, which till then I ne∣ver saw or heard of. But afterwards examining the thing more diligently, and comparing the Observations of o∣thers, printed upon that Subject, with my own ocular Views, I found that my own, and the Opinion of the Ancients could not hold: which I am forc'd to confess in this second Edition of my Anatomy.

X. These Stones are two, more* 1.631 soft, more flagging, more unequal, and less than in Men. But some∣times somewhat bigger and softer, some∣times lesser, harder and dryer, according to the Age of the Party, and her mode∣rate or immoderate use of Venery.

XI. Their Bigness according to* 1.632 Diversity of Age Regner de Graef describes by weight. For he observ'd in Children and new-born Infants, the Stones to be from five Grains to half a Scruple; in such as had at∣tained to Puberty, and were in the Flowre of their Age, that the Stones generally weigh'd a Dram and a half, and so were much about half the Bigness of a Mans Stone: * 1.633 That in more elderly People they be∣came less and harder: In decrepit Persons that they weigh still a Scruple.

But 'tis very probable this Rule cannot be so exactly set down, but that it may suffer some Exception, and that in Wo∣mens as in Mens, there may be some Variety of the Bigness. For in Persons that have dy'd in the Flowre of their Age, according as they have been more or less prone to Venery, we have ob∣served the Bigness, and consequently the Weight to vary, by our Inspection of dead Bodies, nor have we found 'em to be alike small in old Women.

XII. They are seated within the* 1.634 Concavity of the Abdomen, adjoy∣ning on both sides to the sides of the Womb, at the upper part of the Bot∣tom, in Women that are clear, about two Fingers, or one and a half re∣mote from it; (but in Women with Child, the Bottom swelling recedes upwards by degrees) and fasten'd to it with broad membranous Ligaments. On the other part, adhering to the Spermatic Vessels, by the help of the Membranes wherein those Vessels are infolded, about the R•…•…ion of the O•…•…

Ilium, they stick closely to the Perito∣naeum, and observe the same hight with the bottom of the Womb in Women that are empty, but in Women with Child are remov'd more and more from it, ascending by reason of its In∣crease. But they hang by no Cremaster Muscle, for that not being pendulous without, they need not those Muscles to draw 'em up to the upper Parts, so that they are only held and strengthen∣ed by the broad Ligaments.

XIII. Their Figure for the most* 1.635 part Semi-Oval, in the fore and hin∣derpart somewhat broad and de∣press'd.

XIV. They are infolded with a* 1.636 strong Tunicle, call'd in greek 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, which some aver to be single and pro∣per to themselves; others single, but produc'd from the Peritonaeum; o∣thers double and consisting of one pro∣per, and another common, proceeding from the Peritonaeum, strongly an∣nexed to the former. But this Divisi∣on of it into two Membranes, seems to be a thing hardly to be seen, and dif∣ficult to be affirm'd.

XV. They differ in Substance ve∣ry* 1.637 much from the Stones of Men, whereas the one are form'd of little seminary Vessels joyn'd and interwo∣ven one within another with a won∣derful Order: But these consist of Membranes, Vessels, and other Bo∣dies.

XVI. This Substance of theirs,* 1.638 Regner de Graef has with great Diligence inquired into, discovered and describ'd in these Words.

Their inward Substance, says he, is composed chiefly of many little Membranes and small Fibres, loosely united one with another, in the space between which are found several Bodies, which are within ei∣ther naturally or preternaturally. The Bodies naturally found in the Membranous Substance of the Stones, are little Vessels full of Liquor, Nerves, and preparing Vessels, which r•…•…n forward almost in the same manner as in Men, to the Stones, and creep through their whole Substance, and enter the Vessels, in whose Tunicles numerous Tunicles vanish after they have copiously dispersed and spread themselves, as we find in the Yolks of Eggs annexed to the B•…•…ch of the Ovary. And, saith he, the Lymphatic Vessels found in the Stones, whether they enter their Sub∣stance we have not so clearly discovered as to affirm it; tho' we believe it agreea∣ble to Truth. And he adds farther, That what things are sometimes only na∣turally found in the Stones of Women are little Buttons, which like the Conglome∣rated Glandules, consisting of many Par∣ticles tending in a direct Course from the Center to the Periferie, and are infolded with their own proper Membrane. We do not say these little Glandules or But∣tons are always in the Stones of Females, for they are only discovered in 'em after Copulation one or more, as the Female is to bring forth one or more Creatures into the World after that Copulation. Nor are they alike in all Creatures, nor in all sorts of Creatures. For in Cows they are of a yellow, in Sheep of a red, in other Crea∣tures of an Ash-colour. Moreover some few days after Copulation they come to be of a thinner Substance, and the middle of 'em contain a lympid Liquor included in a Membrane, which being thrust forth together with the Membrane, there remains a small Hollowness only in 'em, which by degrees is so entirely defaced, that in the last Months of Childbearing they seem to be composed of a solid Substance: At length the Birth being born, those little Glandules diminish, and at last quite va∣nish.

Now those things that are obser∣ved to be Preternatural in the Stones of Women are watery Bladders, call'd Hydatides, little stony Concretions, and preternatural Swellings, call'd Steatomata, and the like.

XVII. Sometimes other preterna∣tural* 1.639 things are found therein, in a sickly Condition of Body. In the Years 1656, 1658, 1663. I dissected three Women, wherein one Stone ex∣ceeded the other the bigness of a Stool-Ball, and contained a viscous Humour, the other Stone being sound and well. In several others that were much trou∣bled with the Mother while they liv'd, for the most part I found some excess of Bigness indeed, but far less, than in that before mentioned, and sometimes in one, sometimes in both, a certain Saffron coloured, or yellowish sort of Liquor. Dominic de Marchettis, in a certain Woman, saw the right Testicle swell'd to the bigness of a Hens Egg, and full of Serosity: And in another the Stones so intangled with the Ligaments and Tubes, that they seem'd to be one fleshy Mass without Distinction. Bauhi∣nus writes that Stones have sometimes

been seen bigger than a Mans Fist: And there he makes mention of the Dropsie in the Stones, in a Woman that dy'd of such a Dropsie; out of the swelling of whose right Stone he drew out nine Pints of Serum, the left exceeding the bigness of a Quince, and abounding with many watery Bladders. To these he adds the Story of another Woman, whose right Testicle he found to be as big as a Goose Egg, full of long white Hair sticking in the Tunicle, encom∣passed with a kind of slimy Matter like Suet.

The aforesaid Vesicles which are found in the Stones, according to the Nature of which Regner de Graef makes mention, were also long before observ'd by Fallo•…•…ius, and Caster, but what they were, or to what Use they serv'd they could not tell.

XVIII. These things afterwards* 1.640 Van Horn, Epist. ad Rolfinc. was the first that call'd Eggs, and that most convenient Name succeeding Anatomists deservedly retain'd, seeing that they are really Eggs, and that while they were yet but very small, there is nothing but a certain thin sort of Liquor contain'd in 'em, which is like to the White contained in the Eggs of Birds, and those Eggs being boyl'd, it hardens in the same man∣ner like the White in the Eggs of Birds. Neither does it differ in Con∣sistence or Savour from this White. Quite otherwise than the Liquor con∣tained in the Hydatides or watery Blad∣ders (which Fallopius, Vesalius, Riola∣nus, and others, erroneously took for these Eggs) which will neither harden with boyling, nor savour at all like the White in the Eggs of Birds.

XIX. The Eggs of Women and of* 1.641 all other Creatures that bring forth living Animals, are wrapt about with a double Membrane, one thicker, the other thinner. The one in Conception makes the Chorion, and the other the Amnion. Now in Creatures bringing forth living Conceptions, there was no need that the outward Membrane should be hard and crusty, as in Birds: For in the one it was to be preserv'd without the Body, and therefore to be defended by that outermost Rind from external Injuries. But this hardness was not ne∣cessary to preserve 'em while within the Body, as in which external Injuries are sufficiently kept off by the hot Parts that ly round about it, the Womb, the Ab∣domen, &c.

XX. But that Eggs are found in* 1.642 all sorts of Creatures, is now certain∣ly taken for a thing ratified and con∣firm'd on all Hands, which as it is accorded as to Birds, Fish, and se∣veral sorts of Insects, so by innume∣rable Dissections, the same is now as unquestionable as to Creatures that bring forth living Conceptions. Tho' according to the diversity of Creatures, the variety of Bigness is not the same but very different; and more than that, besides greater already brought to Ma∣turity, in many there are found several lesser, that would by degrees have grown to their full bigness. Nor is the Num∣ber always the same, but one, two, three, or more, according to the number of Conceptions which the Creature will bring forth. But in those Creatures where the matter is not apt and proper for the Engendering of fruitful Eggs, as in old Women and Mules, or by reason of the ill Temper and Composition of the Eggs, there they become Barren.

XXI. These Eggs are begot in the* 1.643 Stones of Females that bring forth living Conceptions, out of a spiritu∣ous Blood flowing through the pre∣paring Arteries, and an Animal Spi∣rit flowing through invisible Nerves to the Stones; and leaving in their membranous and kernelly Substance Matter sufficient and proper for their Generation, while the rest of the re∣maining Humours return to the Heart, through the little Veins and small Lymphatic Vessels.

XXII. From all that has been said,* 1.644 our modern Anatomists conclude, following their Leader Van Horn, that the Testicles of Women should be rather called their Ovaries than their Stones; and that chiefly for this Reason, for that neither in Shape nor Substance, nor in what they contain they have any Likeness or Resem∣blance to the Stones of Men. And hence it was without doubt, that they were accompanied by many unprofitable Parts; tho' their absolute necessity ap∣pears from the spaying of Women, who, upon the cutting out of these Parts be∣come no less barren, than Men upon the cutting out their Stones. But whe∣ther Stones or Ovaries, 'tis not a Straw

matter, so we agree in the main about the thing it self.

XXIII. Now how these Eggs come* 1.645 to the Womb from the said Ovarie, as being most obscure, requires a stricter Examination. By what Pas∣sages the Womans Seed came to the Womb from her Stones, before the discovery of Eggs, several have va∣ried in their Explanation. Some, with Galen, thought those short Proces∣ses extended from the Stones to the Neck of the Womb, were the Vasa deferentia, or deferent Vessels. Others conjecture that from these Processes near the Womb, there was deriv'd a pecu∣liar▪ Branch to the Neck of the Womb, and so the Seed was carried partly to the bottom of the Womb, partly to the beginning of the Neck; and that the Seed was evacuated through the upper way in empty Women, but through the lower way in Women with Child. Ri∣olanus describes a little hard Vessel from the lower part of the Testicle, white and very slender, and another like it contain'd between the Tube of the Womb, through which two being joyn'd together, in the bottom of the Womb he alledges the Seed to be poured forth into the Concavity of the Womb; and lastly from these he believes another little slender Branch to be also deriv'd to the Neck of the Womb. But more modern Anatomy plainly shews, that the first were deceived by the Divarica∣tion of the preparing Arteries. Riola∣nus, by his Inspection of the little Nerves running forth that way: And that through the first Passages nothing but Blood passes; through the latter no∣thing of Seed, but only invisible Animal Spirit.

Spigelius, and Veslingius, asserted that part of the Seed in empty Women pas∣sed through the round or lumbrical Li∣gaments of the Womb; but that all the Seed in Women with Child copulating flow'd through the same toward the Clitoris and Sheath, with whom formerly I altogether agreed, because I saw there∣in, toward the end, a slimy sort of Li∣quor like Seed; which might be some flegmatic Excrement, but afterwards I forsook their Party, for that being ad∣monished by the Observations of others, by a more accurate Inspection, I could not find any Hollowness in those Ves∣sels through which those Vessels could pass.

That the Seed of the Woman is not injected into the Cavity, but into the Porosities of the Substance of the womb it self: And the Seed of the Man, either is not injected into the Cavity of the Womb, or being injected into it, by and by flows out of it again, as of no use, Harvey's Inspections could never per∣suade me; for by that means the Seed of the Woman being enfertiliz'd with the Seed of the Man, in order of Cir∣culation, might easily be driven through all parts of the Body, and so be ma∣tur'd by any convenient Heat; and be adapted for the Formation of the Birth.

XXIV. These things premised,* 1.646 from all that has been said, it is clear∣ly manifest that there is no true fe∣male Seed, as the Women's Eggs and the Vasa deferentia of the Eggs suf∣ficiently declare; but that the most spirituous Parts of the Prolific male Seed being injected into the Womb, flows through the Tubes from the Womb to the Testicles and the Eggs therein contain'd; and that those Eggs impregnated with this Seed fall from the Testicles, and are received by the Extremities of the Tubes an∣nexed to 'em, and so through those by degrees are thrust forward to the Womb.

XXV. These Tubes, from their* 1.647 first Inventor were call'd Fallopian, and are the Vasa deferentia, or de∣ferent Vessels, wherein Fallopius af∣firms that he has both found and shewn before credible Spectators most exquisite Seed. Which Tubes he thus describes. But that same seminary Pas∣sage, says he, rises very slender and nar∣row, nervous and white, from the Horn of the Womb it self, and when it has par∣ted a little way from it, it becomes broa∣der by degrees, and curls it self like the Tendril of a Vine, till it comes near the end; then those Tendril-like Wrinkles cea∣sing, and being become very broad, it ends in a certain Extremity which seems to be membranous and fleshy by reason of its red Colour; which Extremity is very much ragged, and worn like the Edges of a worn Cloth, and has a large Hole, which always lies shut, those extream Edges and Iaggs falling down together, which if they be carefully opened and di∣lated, resemble the extream Orifice of a brazen Tube.

XXVI. These Tubes of the Womb,* 1.648 so called from their crooked Shape,

are two Bodies adjoyning to the sides af the womb, hollow, stretch'd out from the bottom of the womb, and composed of two Membranes.

XXVII. The innermost of these* 1.649 Membranes is common with that which closes the womb withinside, but not so smooth, and that more about the Extremities than in the middle. The outward Membrane is common with the external Membrane of the womb, and very smooth, near to the womb somewhat thicker, but about the Extremities thinner or smal∣ler.

XXVIII. The beginnings of the* 1.650 Tubes running forth from the womb, by degrees are more and more dila∣ted, and having acquired a remar∣kable Capaciousness, by degrees become more and more crooked, and run on with a tendril-like Course till they encompass about the one half of the Substance of the Stones with the other Extremity; and are very much di∣lated about the Stones in the first place, and by and by contracted, and beyond their Contraction slit into many Iaggs, to which Regner de Graef has observed▪ many watery Bladders and hard Stones to stick. Now because that after the said Dila∣tation, being suddainly narrowed again, they run to the Stones with a very slen∣der Course, hence it is that in women at first sight they seem somewhat re∣mote from the Stones; and only fasten to the Stones by a thin Interposition of Membranes like the wings of Bats. But in many Creatures they are found to be very near annexed to the Stones, and in many they half embrace the Stones. And so the Tubes according to Nature are passable from the Stones to the Womb, but only once Regner de Graef found 'em preternaturally clos'd up.

XXIX. They are furnished with* 1.651 spermatic Arteries, and Nerves from the same, that penetrate the bottom of the womb.

XXX. Wharton ascribes Valves* 1.652 to these Tubes, so placed that nothing of seminal Matter may flow from the Stones to the womb, and affirms that he observ'd it in the Dissection of a Mare. Others describe to us Valves placed in a contrary Situation, preventing the Ingress of things contain∣ed in the womb, into the Tubes. But besides Inspection, Reason teaches us there can be no Valves in these Vessels, when the Contraction of the Extremi∣ties alone is such, that they will not al∣low the Passage of any thing through 'em, unless in heat of Lust they be di∣lated by a plentiful Flux of arterious Blood and Spirits, and so the spirituous part of the masculine Seed may pene∣trate from the Womb to the Stones and the Eggs, and then again permit these Eggs to pass from the Stones to the Womb.

XXXI Some there are that have* 1.653 conceited several Cells and various Receptacles distinct one from another, and from thence have ascribed to 'em the use of the seminary Vessels of Men. But they were deceived by the sight of the contorted Parte; whereas in Tubes dissected and blown up according to their Length, there is only one Cavity to be seen, distinguished with no Cells or Valves, and here and there some∣what unequally dilated.

XXXII. The capaciousness and length* 1.654 of these Tubes cannot certainly be de∣scrib'd, in regard that the difference of Age, the use of Copulation, and ma∣ny other Accidents cause an extraordi∣nary variety in these things.

Through the Tubes therefore the spi∣ritous part of the Male-seed injected into the Womb, is carried to the Stones, and the Eggs therein contain'd, and these Eggs again proceed from the Stones to the Womb. But how these come to the Womb through these narrow passages of the Egg-Chanel; this, tho' it be hard to be describ'd, yet by Similitudes it seems not difficult to be conceiv'd in the Mind, and explicated.

XXXIII. Many Fruits in their* 1.655 Seasons, as Cherries, Damsons, Peach∣es, Walnuts, &c. whose Seeds, which are like to Eggs, are brought to such a bigness and fitness, as to be impregna∣ted, gape of themselves, and so those Seeds included in their Rinds (which Rinds at first stuck close to their Sub∣stance, but afterwards loosen'd from it) fall out of them; but so long as they cease to be irradiated and cherish'd by the dewie Moisture of the Earth, and the Influx of the spiritous Solar heat (which are to them like the Seed of the Male) they lye hid within their

strong Shells or Cases; but when that enfertilizing Influx of the Earths Moi∣sture, and of the Solar or other conve∣nient heat, entring through the invisi∣ble Pores of the said Shells or Cases, has brought them to a greater perfecti∣on of Fertility; by and by those Shells or Cases grow soft in their Sutures, and so the Stones, tho very hard, open, and the Seeds included within grow moist and more juicy, and dilating themselves, quit the Stones, and so thrust forth the Bud, which is the first thing form'd in order to the new pro∣duction. And the same thing happens in Pease, Beans, Wheat, Barley, Melons, Cucumbers, whose Seeds are wrapt up in a little Membrane instead of a Stone. In like manner Womens Eggs, and the Eggs of all Creatures that bring forth li∣ving Conceptions, as also of Birds, in their Ovary, by means of the Nou∣rishment brought 'em through the small little Arteries and invisible Nerves, ac∣quire a just bigness, and such an aptitude that they may be impregnated by the spiritous part of the Male-seed. Which Fertility if they acquire by Copulation, and so become seal'd with the Seal of Fertility, the little Cells wherein they are included in the Ovary, grow soft, di∣late and loosen themselves (as the stones of Fruits, willing to quit their Seeds for new Production, open of their own ac∣cords) and so when they can no longer be contain'd in those little Cells by rea∣son of their growth, and the loosning of the Cells, they fall of themselves into the Egg-Chanels or Tubes, which are relax'd to that degree by the increase of Heat and Spirits, in the Act of Copulation, that they afford the ripe Eggs an easie passage toward the Womb, which after∣wards by the gentle Compression of the Abdomen caus'd by Respiration, are gent∣ly thrust forward through the Tubes into the Womb it self, wherein, by reason of the narrow Orifice of the Womb, they are stop'd and detain'd, there to be che∣rish'd by its moderate Heat and conve∣nient Moisture, and the vivific Spirit la∣tent therein, and infus'd with the Male∣seed, may be freed from its Fetters, and proceeding from power to act, may be∣gin the delineation of the Infant Structure. Of which more Cap. 28, 29.

XXXIV. Here arises a very singu∣lar* 1.656 and considerable Question, viz. When Birds, without the Coition of the Male, lay their perfect Eggs, (which they call Wind-eggs) whether mature Virgins, and Women depriv'd of Men, and without the assistance of Copulati∣on, may not be able sometime to bring forth their Eggs? 'Tis very probable that in Women of cold Tempers, and not prone to Venery, such Accidents will hardly fall out, seeing there is not in them such a copious afflux of hot Blood and Spirits, which is much promoted by intent venereal thoughts, to the genera∣tive Parts, that the little Boxes of the O∣vary and the Tubes, should be sufficient∣ly relax'd and dilated for the exclusion and passage of the Eggs: But in hot Women, itching with Lust, prone to Co∣pulation, and continually intent upon venereal thoughts, sometimes the Parts may be so relax'd by a copious afflux of Blood and Seed to the Parts, that the Eggs, when mature, may drop of them∣selves into the Tubes out of the Ovary, and through them be carried to the Womb: yet not so as to be there long detain'd, because of the Orifice of the Womb's being open, as not being exactly shut, but when it contains the Man's Seed for Conception, or else the Birth. But why these same Womens Wind-eggs were never observ'd by any Person be∣fore, happen'd, I suppose, from hence, for that Women do not inspect what things slip out of their Wombs, or know what they are; nor will they suffer Men to view those things, among which, if there should be an Egg sometimes, it would not be discern'd by them. Be∣sides that by reason of the tender Skin wherewith it is enwrapt, it might fall out broken, or else be broken among the Linen with which Women dry up their Uterine Excrements, and so lose alto∣gether its shape of an Egg, which else would be visible to the Eye. However, in the mean time this has recall'd to my memory, what many years since a Wo∣man, not of the meanest quality, whose Daughter being about four and twenty years of Age, wanton enough, yet ho∣nest, was troubled with vehement fits of the Mother, related to me; that is to say, That my Prescriptions, which were administred to her, nothing availing, her Midwife had many times deliver'd her from her present Distemper, and immi∣nent danger of Death, by thrusting her finger into the sheath of the Womb; with which she kept rubbing there so long till she brought down a certain vis∣cous Liquor out of the Womb, which was often accompanied with a certain clear transparent little Bubble, and so

the Person in a Swoon came to her self again. This I laugh't at, at that time when I never so much as dream't of Womens Eggs; but afterwards it came into my mind, that that same Bubble was a Wind-egg, of which thing I could now give a better Judgment, could I meet with such a Bubble that were again to be seen. Moreover, it is very proba∣ble that those Wind-eggs are frequently evacuated by those salacious Women, who lying with Men, through some di∣stemper of the Seed, never conceive: For why should their Eggs be less carried out of the Ovary to the Womb, than the Eggs of those of others that conceive? especially when they themselves have Eggs which are proper for Fertility, if they were but bedew'd with a fertile Male-seed? which is apparent from this, that some Women lying with their Hus∣bands never Conceive, but lying with other Men presently prove with Child.

XXXV. This Conjecture of Wind∣eggs* 1.657 is yet more confirm'd by that wonderful Story related by Bartholine of a Norway Woman, who after ele∣ven kindly Labours, at length in the Year 1639. being in Labour with her twelfth Child, brought forth two Eggs with extraordinary Pains, like to Hen∣eggs, only that the Shell was not so white. Such another sort of Egg it was that the Woman brought forth, with the usual pains of Childbirth, in the Terri∣tory of Vicenza, in the Year 1621. by the Report of Iohn Rodias, Cent. 3. Observ. 57. Without doubt the Female-seed contain'd in these Eggs, was either un∣fruitful, or which is more likely, by rea∣son of the unusual thickness of the Ex∣terior Membrane, the Male-seed could not penetrate through the over-strait∣ned Pores, to the inner parts of the Eggs, and consequently not be mix'd with the Womans Seed latent within; and by that means could not frame any Embryo out of it self; for which reason those Eggs remain'd unfruitful like the Wind-eggs of Fowl living without their Males. Now there are three very remarkable things to be observ'd in the Eggs of the said Women. 1. That being little as they are, and sliding out of the Tubes into the Womb, they should stay there so long. 2. That they should grow to the bigness of a Hens-egg in the Womb. 3. That the Exterior Membrane should grow so hard, as to harden into a Shell; which is a thing scarce ever heard of, nor ever observ'd by any other Physici∣ans that we read of.

XXXVI. We told ye before that* 1.658 the Egg Chanels or Tubes were so re∣lax'd by the abundani flowing in of the Animal Spirits and hot Blood, that through them the spiritous part of the Male-seed might the more easily be a∣ble to penetrate to the Ovary and the Eggs; and the Eggs themselves might the more easily slip into them, be re∣ceiv'd by them, and hasten'd forward into the Womb. Now that this is the true cause of this relaxation, no man will wonder▪ who has try'd how strait the Genitals of honest Women are, if that afflux do not happen; that is when they Copulate without any Lust, so that it is a trouble to 'em to receive the Yard: and then again, how loose they are, and with what pleasure they Copulate and admit the Yard, where that afflux plen∣tifully happens; for I do not speak of Cur∣tizans, who by the overmuch use, or ra∣ther abuse of Copulation, have their Genital Parts so worn and loose, that they can never be contracted and wrink∣led again. He also that shall consider, how much the same afflux relaxes the Orifice and Sheath of the Womb, when a large and mature Birth, endeavouring to pass through those narrow passages, by its kicking and motion afflicts and pains those Parts, will easily confess the same. For then all those Parts dilate themselves: the former, to transmit the Eggs; the latter, to exclude the mature Birth; and that not being endu'd with any Art or Knowledge, but as being relax'd and mollify'd by a copious afflux of Blood and Animal Spirits, at that time flowing more to those parts than at other times, through the determination of the Mind. Which afflux afterwards ceasing, all those Parts so vastly relax'd, within a few days return to their pristine consti∣tution and straitness.

XXXVII. From what has been* 1.659 said, it is manifestly apparent that Eggs are carried from the Womens Stones or Ovaries through the Tubes to the Womb. Which is confirm'd yet more by the Observations of some credi∣ble Physicians, by whom, in the dissecti∣ons of Big-belly'd Women it has been found, that by reason of those Eggs be∣ing detain'd in the Tubes, through some unnatural cause, and not passing through into the Womb, that the Births were found in the Tubes, and found therein by dissection after Death; of which Regner de Graef brings some Examples out of

Riolanus and Benedict Vassalius. Which tho' we look'd upon formerly as Old∣womens Fables, now upon better know∣ledge of the Eggs and Tubes, we believe to be true.

XXXVIII. Besides these Observati∣ons,* 1.660 this whole business was plainly de∣monstrated at the Theatre in Amster∣dam, April 15. 1673. by Ocular Inspection, by the Learned Frederic de Ruisch, a most famous Physician and Professor of Surgery and Anatomy. And this in a Woman, who in a short time after she had conceiv'd dy'd of some suddain Accident, of whom he thus writes: Not only the Tube of the right, but also of the left side, were somewhat more ruddy, thicker, and more distended than u∣sual, to the admiration of all the Beholders. The Tube of the right side was somewhat writh'd, toward the opening of the Ovary. The Womb, without any foregoing prepa∣ration, we cut up in the presence of a noble Company of Physicians: There we observ'd the Womb to be somewhat thicker than or∣dinary, more ruddy and more spungy, and its Concavity fill'd with a Lympid Liquor, upon which there swam the beginnings of a Birth, of a mucilaginous Substance, which rude Mass was afterwards so dissolv'd by the Air, that there was no footstep of it to be seen. In that same rude foundation of a Birth, I could not perceive any shape of Human Body. And therefore, whether that Foundation were an Embryo, or only an impregnated Egg, I much question. 'Tis also worthy observation, That the hollow∣ness of the Ovary out of which the Egg had fallen, was not only of a deep red colour, but also spungy, as we find in the Womb, the Birth being newly deliver'd: so that to me the Egg seems to be cherish'd in the O∣vary, as the Birth in the Womb. More∣over, I cannot but wonder at what I find also in other ingravidated Bodies, why both the Spermatic Veins, are so much wider than the Arteries: For if the Arteries should exceed the Veins it would be no wonder, seeing that the Birth requires much Nourish∣ment. I found the Orifice of a Womb not closely shut within, as some Authors will have it, but gaping more than usually, &c.

XXXIX. From this demonstration* 1.661 we may clearly be convinc'd, not only how the Substance of the Ovary, ready to quit the Egg, becomes spungy and open, but also how the Fallopian Tubes, carrying the Egg from the O∣vary to the Womb, at that time became more thick and patent. But why the Spermatic Veins running through the womb, exceed the Arteries, we shall give the Reason Cap. 27. but why he found the Orifice of the womb gaping at that more than usual rate, is beyond mine and the common Observation of other Anatomists. Only this may be said, That being open'd to receive the Egg into the womb but a little before, the suddain approach of Death gave it not leisure to close again; or being re∣lax'd by the suddain and disorderly Commotion of the Spirits, continued open.

XL. In a Womans Egg (for I* 1.662 speak not of the Eggs of Brutes) three things are to be consider'd: 1. Its External little Skins, which after Conception constitute the Chorion and Amnion. 2. The plentiful Humours or Liquors contain'd in those little Skins. 3. The small Crystalline Bub∣ble appearing in a fertile Egg already conceiv'd in the Womb. Of all which in their due places.

XLI. After this History of Eggs,* 1.663 one doubt remains; that is, If the Eggs are carried through the Tubes into the Womb, and nothing else of Seed flows from the Stones, whence proceeds that pleasure which Big-belly'd Women have in Copulation, at what time no Eggs are carried anew to the Womb, in regard the Extremities of the Tubes are so exactly shut? as also in such as have their Womb cut out for the cure of some Disease, particularly the falling down of the Womb? Also in Women of fifty, who cease to have any more Eggs in their Ovaries? Moreover, whence proceeds that Seed which flows from Women in Copulation into their Sheath, and bursts forth in the Night in Lascivious Dreams? I answer, That that same great pleasure in Coition does not arise from the Eggs passing from the Ovary to the womb, but rather from the Eruption of that Seed (if it may be called Seed) which proceeds from that glandulous Substance encompassing the Bladder, which Seed is equally in Big-belly'd and Empty-belly'd grown women, and in such as have their wombs cut out, and may break forth with Pleasure into the Sheaths, as well in Nocturnal Dreams as otherwise. But we must understand that the pleasure of

women in Copulation, proceeds not so much from the bursting forth of the said Seminal Matter into the Sheath, as from the rubbing of the Clitoris, as it is with Men by the rubbing of the Nut.

XLII. There remains to be enqui∣red,* 1.664 Whether Women may be castrated, and have their Stones cut out? I an∣swer, That Women cannot be castra∣ted without great hazard of their lives: for the small Guts must be cut on both sides, which is very hazardous, in re∣gord that upon the least wound of the Abdomen, and especially of the small Gut penetrating the Abdomen, the Guts presently burst forth. Which wounds in this case must be of a good bigness, for the fingers to be thrust in, the Guts to be remov'd, to the end the Stones may be found and brought forth. Besides, upon the cutting off the Stone, the Spermatic Vessels are also cut away, from whence it would be very hard to stop the flux of Blood into the lower Bel∣ly; which appears from hence, that it is a hard matter to stop the blood in men, whose Vessels may however be much more conveniently bound or cauteriz'd. For tho', as Galen testifies, Sows might be spay'd in Cappa•…•…ocia and Asia, and the same thing be practis'd among the Germans and Westphalians: though Bitches in the same manner may be spay'd; yet the cutting out of womens Stones is not to be attempted with like security; for Mankind is not to be ex∣pos'd to the same dangers with brute Beasts, among which many of the Fe∣males dye when spay'd. And therefore I wonder that Platerus, a man of great Judgment, should think that women might be spay'd as easily as brute Beasts, not considering the difficulty and cruelty of the Operation, accompanied with a thousand hazards, which enjoyn all men, especially Christians, to abhor such a wicked piece of Villany. Tho' Histories assure us that it was a Cruelty most bar∣barously and ignominiously practis'd up∣on women in former Ages. The Creo∣phagi, a People so call'd in Arabia, as Alexander ab Alexandro testifies, not on∣ly gelt their men, but castrated their wo∣men, according to the Example of the Egyptians, who were wont to spay their women in that manner. Xanthus, cited by Athenaeus, relates that Adramytes King of the Lybians, spay'd his women, and made use of 'em instead of Eunuchs: and He∣sychius and Suidas accuse Gyges of the same Crime.

XLIII. Wierus makes mention of* 1.665 the other sort of Castration, by cutting out a womans womb, by which she is made unfit for Conception; which he relates fell out very successfully to a cer∣tain Sowgelder, who suspecting his Daughter to be guilty of Adultery, spay'd her by cutting out her womb. But this way of Castration is no less ha∣zardous than the other.

CHAP. XXV. Of the Womb and its Motion.

HAving explain'd the Parts that serve for the making and evacua∣tion o•…•… the Eggs and Female Seed, we come now to those where Conception is finish'd, that is to say, the womb and its several parts.

I. The Womb, which is also call'd* 1.666 Matrix, and Vulva (by the Greeks 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 and 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, and sometimes 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉) is an organic part serving for Genera∣tion, seated in the middle of the Hy∣pogastrium,* 1.667 between the Bladder and the right Gut, in the strong Pelvis, form'd out of the Os Ilium, the Hip∣bone, the Share, and Os Sacrum. Which Pelvis is larger in women than in men. And in time of Labour, the strong Ligaments about the Os Sacrum, and Os Pu•…•…is, being loosen'd, and the Coc•…•…yx, or last portion of the Back-bone giving way, may yet be further stretch'd to re∣lease the Birth out of the straits of the Uterine Prison.

II. The Substance of it in Virgins* 1.668 is white, nervous, thick, and com∣pacted: in women with Child some∣what spungy and soft.

III. It has two Membranes. The* 1.669 outermost doubled and strong from the Peritonaeum; smooth, and smear'd over with a watery Humour, by means of which Membrane it is fasten'd to the Intestinum Rectum, the Bladder and the adjacent lateral parts. The innermost, which is proper to it, is fi∣brous, and more porous, rising from the inner substance of the womb, and firmly fasten'd to it, rough in the larger Cavity, about the Neck, full of wrinkles or surrows, and full of little Pores.

IV. Between these Membranes is* 1.670 found a fleshie and fibrous Contexture, which in Big-belly'd women, by reason of the great quantity of Nutritive Humours flowing to it, swells together with the said Membranes, so that the more the Birth grows and increases, the more fleshie, fibrous and thicker the womb grows, which in the last Months of a womans Time equals the thickness of a Thumb, and sometimes of two fingers. Neither does this thick∣ness proceed from the Humours pene∣trating into the Porosities of the womb, as many believe; but is a real thick flesh, which afterwards, like Muscles, serves for the expulsion of the Birth.

Such a sort of fleshie Substance of the womb in Novemb. 1653. I publickly shewed in our Anatomy Theatre, in the body of a woman dying in Childbed, twelve hours after her decease; and not long after in another woman that dy'd in Labour, together with the Child. But this same increas'd flesh, after the birth is deliver'd, the blood and hu∣mours flowing out presently with the Birth, or afterwards, drys up again, and so the womb returns to its pristine shape and bigness.

V. The bigness of the womb is not* 1.671 very considerable; but varies accord∣ing to Age, and the use of Copulation. In Virgins it is about two fingers in breadth, but seldom above three fin∣gers in length; which bigness is some what extended in those that make use of men, and is still bigger in fruitful wo∣men that have born many Children. How far it increases in Big-bellied women is known to every body.

VI. Regner de Graef distinguishes* 1.672 its bigness according to the difference of Age, by weight.

In new-born Children, says he, we have observ'd the womb to have weigh'd a dram, and sometimes a dram and a half. In old Women and Virgins growing Ripe, it is of that bigness as to weigh from an Ounce to an Ounce and an half. In stronger Women, that have had many Children, and use fre∣quent Copulation, it seldom exceeds two Ounces.

But a most monstrous and diseas'd womb was that which Regner de Graef in the same place tells us took up the whole Concavity of the Abdomen, and weighed at least forty pounds.

VII. The shape of it resembles a* 1.673 Pear, or rather a Surgeons •…•…ucurbit; in Virgins somewhat flat before and behind; in such as have had Children, more round.

VIII. The hollowness of it is but* 1.674 small, as being no more than in women not with Child, especially in Virgins, and will contain a good big Bean; but after Conception increases and dilates it self with the whole womb. This is not distinguish'd with any Cells, as in most brute Beasts that bring forth living Conceptions; but only by a future, or rather certain Line extended in length, and drawn along only in the inner part of the fleshie Tunicle, and so by it is di∣vided into the right and left part; like the Line which appears in the outside of the Scrotum in men. Which Concavity however is so order'd, that it is not equal and altogether round, but toward the right and left side. As it were extended into a Horn, being somewhat longer to∣ward the little Orifice or Mouth of it, so that it is almost Triangular. It is very rarely seen that this Cavity is divided by a middle Separation, tho' Riolanus brings two Examples of such a Division. In this Cavity there settles for the most part an oily kind of Liquor in empty women, defending that secret Shrine of Nature from Drought, and preserving it prepar'd for necessary Fruitfulness.

IX. Those parts that seem somewhat* 1.675 to swell from the sides of the bottom, are call'd the Horns of the Womb. But these are more manifest in Beasts that bring forth living Conceptions, whose Womb being parted into two parts, is divided into two apparent and long Horns, distinguish'd within∣side into little Cells. But it is seldom seen that such Horns are found in Wo∣men, as Silvius found in a certain Maid, and of which Schenkius cites the Example out of Bauhinus, Obser∣vat. l. 4. Riolanus refuses to call these Horns the swelling Extremities of the womb, but the Tules; wherein Van Horn and Swammerdam seem to take his part. But what is vulgarly asserted con∣cerning these Horns, my opinion is, should rather be understood of the womb it self, than of the inner Cavity of the womb: For a womans womb is not horned, but truly round and some∣what flat. But its Concavity is extend∣ed both to the right and left, after the

manner of a Horn, as is manifest by the Dissection of it

X. It is fasten'd to the neighbour∣ing* 1.676 parts by the neck and bottom. The neck by means of the Peritonae∣um, is fasten'd before to the Piss∣bladder and the Share-bones, behind to the Intestinum Rectum and the Os Sacrum; and about the Privity joyns with the Podex, loosely adhering at the sides to the Peritonaeum. The bottom, as to its own Substance, is fa∣sten'd above to no part, that its extensi∣on may be the freer.

XI. At the sides it hangs ty'd with* 1.677 two pair of Ligaments. Of which the first, which is the uppermost, resembling in shape the wings of Bats, is strong, broad, membranous, loose, soft, and be∣ing interwoven with fleshie Fibres, pro∣ceeds from the Peritonaeum doubled in that place (whence Vesalius and Arch∣angelus imagine both parts of the sides to be so many Muscles) and be∣ing fasten'd to the Tubes, Stones, and Protuberances of the bottom, joyns the Matrix to the Ossa Ilii, which be∣ing immoderately loosen'd or broken by any outward violence, the Womb de∣scends into the Cavity, and sometimes slides forth; at least, if the Substance it self of the womb become loose also through any Accident; which tho' in per∣fect health it be thick and compacted, in a sickly Constitution of body it relaxes, like the Scrotum in men.

XII. Soranus and Aretaeus assert,* 1.678 That not the whole womb, but its in∣ternal fleshie Tunicle only, with the primary Substance of the womb, slips down to the Groyns, the outward mem∣branous Tunicle, which is firmly fa∣sten'd to the neighbouring parts re∣maining whole. But because this Opi∣nion presupposes a wonderful dilacerati∣on of the body of the womb into two parts, the outermost and innermost, which is altogether impossible, it is to be held for most certain that the innermost fle∣shie Membrane of the Womb, cannot descend into the Fall, but that of neces∣sity the whole body of the womb, turn'd upside down, slides from its place.

VIII. This falling down of the womb,* 1.679 by all Physicians hitherto granted, Theodore Kerkringius an eminent Anatomist, now strenuously denies; and writing upon that Subject, bitterly in∣veighs against Andrew Laurentius, Veslingius, and Bartholine, as if they, among others, had erroneously judg'd of this matter, and says that a certain Relaxation of the Neck, which hangs forth without the Privity, causes all these idle Mistakes. But let the learned Gentleman recant his words; for, because he never saw a fall'n womb, he over-rashly and petu∣lantly derides others that have been eye∣witnesses of the thing; and most excel∣lent Physicians, as to that matter, both in Practice and Theory, much more skilful and conversant. Let him read in Carpus, the Story of a woman whose womb did not only slip down without the Privity, but was also cut away. Let him read in Paraeus the Example of a womb fall'n down, and cut off by Pa∣raeus himself. Let him also read Hil∣dan's Cent. 4. Observ. 60, 61, 62. where he will find three Examples of a womb fall'n down, related by a Person of ex∣act Credit. Let him read Dominic de Marchettis, Anat. c. 7. that he himself three times saw a womb fall'n, replac'd it, and cur'd it. Let him read many more such like Examples in Avenzoar, Matthew de Gradibus, Nicholas Floren∣tinus, Benivenias, Christopher a Vega, Paulus Aegineta, Mercurialis, Bott•…•…n, Lice•…•…, Senn•…•…rtus, and othees. All which Pers•…•…ns, and many others, were not so stupid, nor so blind, but that they knew a womb when it was fall'n. To these let him add my own Testimony, who in a certain young woman saw her womb hang out of the Cavity to the breadth of two fingers, which I handled with my own hands, and with a proper Instru∣ment thrust back into its place, and af∣terwards so well cur'd the Patient, that the same part never fell afterwards. Be∣sides that, all that has been said is yet more confirm'd by the Doctrine of Hip∣pocrates, who Lib. 2. de Morb. Mulier and in several other places plainly teaches, that the womb does sometimes slip forth, and also adds the Causes and the Cure of such a falling down; with whom Ga∣len also agrees. Reason also confirms the Experience of this thing: For if a copious affluency of cold Humours may so relax the little joynt of the Hip, that the head of the Thigh-bone shall fall out of its Cavity, call'd Acetabulum, what wonder is it that an affluency of the like Humours should so relax the womb it self, and its Ligaments, that not being able to restrain it, the womb should

fall down? Hence we find that the same Accident happens in moist places, especi∣ally to women that are of a cold and moist Temper, and troubled with a re∣dundancy of flegmatic Humours, in which the womb sometimes descends to the Orifice of the Privities, and some∣times slips down all of it without.

As to what Kerkringius says, That it is not the womb it self, but a certain re∣laxation of the Neck or Sheath; I would ask him this Question, Whether the womb remaining in its proper place, the sheath can be so much extended down∣ward as to hang forth without the Pri∣vities? And therefore for the future, as to those things that he has not seen, let him believe those that have.

XIV. Here another Question ari∣ses,* 1.680 Whether the Womb in the fall be turn'd upside down? That it must of necessity be inverted, and cannot o∣therwise slip forth, Reason teaches. Yet Regner de Graef thinks this impos∣sible in Virgins, by reason of the extra∣ordinary narrowness of the Uterine Ori∣fice. But that it is possible only in Child∣bearing women, when the Secundine sticking too close, is over-violently pull'd by an unskilful Midwife. Indeed I be∣lieve it to be true, that the womb rarely falls in Virgins; but that it happens to other women at other times than when they bear Children, I my self have seen; for which I could produce the Examples of many honest women, if Modesty would permit me: And therefore let the Example by me already alledg'd suffice, where the womb hung forth of the wo∣mans body inverted.

XV. The other lower pair of Liga∣ments,* 1.681 round like Worms, somewhat ruddy, proceed on both sides from the sides of the Womb like Muscles, and so descends to the Groyns; (whence Riolanus thought the Womb to be wrapt about with the Cremaster Mus∣cle, and Vesalius calls 'em the Mus∣cles of the Womb) then passing through the doubled Production of the Perito∣naeum, and the Tendons of the ob∣lique Muscles of the Abdomen are pre∣sently strengthen'd with fleshie Fibres proceeding from the Os Ilium, and be∣ing reflex'd above the Share-bones, approach the Clitoris, and there end. Some Anatomists assert, That the re∣maining part of this Pair is extended farther into the fatty inter•…•…al Membrane of the Thigh, and with that descends to the Knee, or according to some, descends to the Foot; which Riolanus thinks to be the reason why women in the first Months of their Breeding complain of pains within their Thighs. But they were deceiv'd, in not observing that the said Membrane being extended to the Knee, does not proceed from the Lumbrical Ligament, nor has any communion with it, but that it plainly arises from the Cartilaginous Ligament of the Os Pubis or Share-bone. These Ligaments loosl•…•… bind the bottom of the womb in the parts before and behind. Bauhinus observing loose Pores within 'em, and sometimes a kind of viscous Humour in the lower part, believ'd that they serv'd for two uses; partly to do the office of Ligaments, partly to evacuate through those Pores the superfluous Humours of the Genitals. Spigelius likewise obser∣ving that viscous Humour, judg'd it to be the Seed, which in women, as to some part of it, is carried through these Liga∣ments, which he thinks to be the true Vasa Deferentia, to the Uterine Sheath and the Clitoris. The same viscous Humour a•…•…ter that led me astray into Spigelius's Opinion, from which after∣wards I revolted for the Reasons menti∣on'd in the foregoing Chapter. Veslingius dreamt that beside the Seed something of uncleanness gather'd about the womb, and was evacuated through these Liga∣ments; which nevertheless is altogether impossible, in regard they have no hol∣lowness capable to tra•…•…smit both Seed and such an excrementitious filth: •…•…either is it probable that those two Substances are ever mix'd or flow together through any other passages, seeing that the Seed must of necessity be contaminated and corrup∣ted by that nastiness. Erro•…•…eously there∣fore does Andreas Laurentius assert, That these round Ligaments are sometimes so dilated, that they cause the Rupture call'd B•…•…bonocele; notwithstanding that they can never be dilated so wide as to receive the Intestine or Caul. But the Rupture Bubonocele is occasion'd in women as in men, that is, when the Gut or Caul slides down into the dilated or broken Production of the Peritonaeum wrapt a∣bout these Ligaments, and accompany∣ing and embracing 'em without the Abdo∣men to the Grovns, as in men it includes the Spermatic Vessels within it self.

XVI. The Womb is furnished with* 1.682 several Arteries and Veins, far more numerous and bigger, and more wind∣ing than the Sheath. Nevertheless the

Arteries are much more numerous than the Veins, for the Veins are very few, in respect of the Arteries; and those chiefly dispers'd thorough the outward parts of the womb. Whence that of Aristotle, that from the greater Vein, no Vein is deriv'd to the womb, but from the Aorta many and very thick. But in these words the Philosopher does not deny but that some Veins run along thorough the Superficies of the womb; which eve∣ry man that has eyes may see; but he means that very few or none of those Veins enter the inner Substance of it, but many Arteries do it.

XVII. The Arteries that creep* 1.683 through the upper part of it, descend from the seminal Vessels before they form the Vasa praeparantia, or pre∣paring Vessels: But those which di∣sperse themselves through the middle and lower Part, proceed from the crural and hypogastric Vessels of the same Artery. There is such a Con∣junction of these Arteries, that they can hardly be distinguished one from ano∣ther, by reason of their Ends gaping in∣to Branches both of the one and the o∣ther: When the Spermatic or Hypoga∣stric Arteries being fill'd with Breath, presently the Arteries of the other side, for the most part swell together, at least in the same manner as the Arteries of the Sheath.

XVIII. The upper Veins ascend to* 1.684 the Vena Cava, and empty them∣selves into it near the Emulgent: the lower enter the Hypogastrics.

The upper Arteries are vulgarly said to meet together with the upper Veins, and the Lower, with the lower Veins, by various Anastomoses: But as yet I could never observe those Anastomoses: This only I observ'd, that the little Veins arising from the Substance of the womb, are intermix'd one among another, and mutually open one into the other; but that none are conjoyn'd with the Arte∣ries by Anastomoses; and so that the Ar∣teries only meet here and there by Ana∣stomoses.

For the Arteries with their Orifices enter the very Substance of the womb, into which they pour their Blood, which is every way distributed therein through winding Chanels and little Pipes: which some thought to be the Cavities or Glan∣dules called Cotyledons, to which, in Conception, the Placenta or Uterine Li∣ver sticks, in which at that time they gape, and pour Blood into it to be pre∣pared for the Nourishment of the Birth; and also contribute copious alimentary Blood to the very spungy Substance of the womb, seated between both Mem∣branes, the which causes the womb at that time to swell to a bigger Bulk, and so as the Birth grows, the womb's Ha∣bitation also swells. To which end at that time large and turgid Vessels are to be seen, by reason of the plenty of Blood which they contain more at that time than before Conception.

XIX. For at such time as women* 1.685 are not with Child, the Blood which superabounds every Month at certain Periods, is forc'd in great quantity through the Arteries to the womb, with a certain kind of Effervescency; and when as there are but few Veins in the inner Substance of it, through which the Circulation of so much Blood can be conveniently made, and the Orifices of the said little Pipes are now soft and smooth, hence it comes to pass that the redundant Blood, which by reason of its quantity cannot be sud∣dainly circulated, as being superfluous and troublesom to Nature through its quantity, flows forth through the ga∣ping and open Orifices of the Pipes, also through the ends of the Vessels end∣ing in the neck of the womb. But in such women wherein those little Pipes are closer shut, in them their flowers flow only through the ends of the Vessels ending in the Neck or Sheath of the womb; or else stop, if that fermentative quality be not yet come to such a per∣fection, as to raise such an Effervescency in the Blood.

XX. Now what this Uterine Fer∣ment* 1.686 is, and where it is generated, which provokes that Effervescency of the Blood at prefix'd monthly periods in empty women, but very seldom in women with child, has been but little inquired into as yet. We shall suspend our Judgment in this particular, by rea∣son of the obscurity of the thing; and yet we leave it to be consider'd, whether the fermentaceous Matter in the Spleen, Li∣ver, Sweetbread, and Glandules and o∣ther parts, and carried with the Blood through the Arteries to the womb, and there some part of it being left, and collected together by degrees (for you shall always find a viscous slimy Humour in the dissected wombs of empty women)

gains some peculiar quality, from a cer∣tain specific property of the womb, which provokes that specific fermentation (as the same Matter is endu'd with a peculiar quality in the Stomach, to extract the Chylus out of the Nourishment) by means of which, that Humour in healthy Peo∣ple being matur'd to that volatility in a Months space, to boyl of it self, the whole body of the woman, but especial∣ly those parts next the womb are put into a Commotion, and the superfluous or boyling blood, dilating the swelling Orifices of the Vessels, is thrust forth; and that same quality or just volatility of the said fermentaceous Humour ceasing, the menstruous evacuation also ceases; as in women with child, and women that have lain long sick.

XXI. Aristotle not understanding* 1.687 this ferment of the womb, and the thence proceeding effervescency of the Blood, asserts that womens flowers are pro∣vok'd by the influence and motion of the Moon. Which Opinion, with his leave, stands upon no Foundation, or rather is plainly contrary to Reason: for according to that Opinion, all women would have their flowers at the same time, and they would only flow at that certain time, wherein the Moon being mov'd to that determin'd point of Hea∣ven, caus'd that specific influence; where∣as during the whole monthly Course of the Moon, there is not any day, nor any hour, wherein here and there over the whole world innumerable women are not troubled with their flowers.

XXII. Vain is also their Opinion,* 1.688 who believe the monthly Courses to be mov'd by the redundant blood collected in the Vessels of the womb; in regard those Vessels are not able to contain so great a quantity of blood as is evacua∣ted every period. Or if they should collect it by degrees, and so reserve it for a Month, they must be strangely swell'd, whereas it is apparent by inspection in dissected Bodies, tho' plethoric, dying at the very instant of their monthly evacu∣ations, or when it began to happen, that there appears then no more unusual swel∣ling of the womb than at another time. Add to this, that in lean women fre∣quently given to fast, in whom there is no such redundancy of blood, neverthe∣less the flowers have their usual Course. Lastly, the continual circulation of the blood does not permit such a stagnation in the Vessels of the womb, which if it should happen, the blood would there be in danger of a suddain Putrefaction, and would afflict the woman long before the time of her Evacuation with most terrible Symptoms and Effects; whereas the menstruous blood is not putrid, not differs in it self in goodness from the rest of the blood. This is confirm'd by the testimony of the fam'd Hippocrates. But the blood, says he, gushes out as from a Sa∣crifice, and is quickly congeal'd, if the woman be healthy. Which Aristotle al∣so asserts in these words; And those which are call'd flowers gush forth, which is as it were the blood of a Creature newly kill'd. I say, of it self; because, if in some it be vitious, sharp, noysom to the smell, or otherwise corrupted when it is evacuated, it has not that imperfection in it self, but contracts it from the viti∣ous nastiness bred and remaining in a distemper'd and sickly womb, or else at the time of the menstruous Effervescen∣cy flowing from other parts to this same Sink, together with the blood, and vitia∣ting the blood by its mixture. And this is the meaning of Hippocrates, where he says, and it corrodes the Earth like Vine∣gor, and gnaws whereever it touches the woman, and exulcerates the womb. Certain therefore it is that the monthly Courses are provok'd into motion by the fore∣said Effervescency of the blood ferment∣ing in the Vessels of the womb. Which Effervescency, if sometimes it be occa∣sion'd, not by the foresaid Uterine fer∣ment alone, but by other Causes, then sometimes it happens that the Courses are still in motion beyond the ordinary Period, as often happens in the Small Pox, malignant and burning Fevers, &c.

XXIII. There also belong to the upper* 1.689 parts of the womb small little Nerves, rising from the inner Branch of the sixth Pair; to the middle and lower parts, little Branches proceeding from the Nerves of the Os Sacrum.

XXIV. The office of the womb is to* 1.690 receive the Seed of the man, and to preserve and cherish the womans Eggs, till the Birth be form'd, and being brought to maturity, and wanting more Air, to thrust it forth into the world. Moreover, it is ordain'd for another se∣condary use, that is, the Purgation of the womans body. Which two offices, Aretaeus comprehends in three words: A womans womb, says he, is useful for Birth and Purgation.

XXV. The womb is therefore a* 1.691 part necessary for Generation; but thence there is no Conclusion to be drawn, that it is a part necessarily con∣ducing to the life of a woman; seeing that a woman way live without a womb; as is apparent in them, whose womb slipping out, is not only ulce∣rated and corrupted by the external cold, but also cut out, and yet upon the growing up of a Cartilaginous Sub∣stance consolidating within the hole of the womb cut off, the same women have liv'd in health for many years; and more than that, have lain with their Husbands, and almost with the same pleasure, as if they had a womb; of which there are sundry Examples cited by several Physi∣cians of great Reputation.

XXVI. But seeing that the womb is* 1.692 a part most necessary to Generation, wherein the Conception ought to be made, and the Birth form'd, the Question is, Whether by any specific power or faculty the forming of the Birth be there brought to perfection. To which I answer Negatively; for that the forming power is in the Seed, and the womb contributes no more to the Gene∣ration of Man, than the Earth to the Generation of Plants; that is to say, it affords a secure Harbour for the Seed and the Eggs; temperate and sufficient nourishment.

XXVII. Now tho' it were held for* 1.693 a thing undoubted and unquestionable by all the Ancients without exception, that the Office of conceiving wholly be∣long'd to the womb, and that the Birth could not be conceiv'd any where out of the womb; yet in this Age it has been discover'd and observ'd by famous Men, tho' it rarely happen, that the Birth has been conceiv'd in the Ute∣rine Tubes. But that same Story seems incredible related by Philip Salmuth, of a certain man that ejected his Seed by a Lip Copulation into his Wives mo•…•…th, who upon that conceiv'd a Child in her Stomach, and afterwards vomited it up as big as ones finger: as if a Child could be conceiv'd out of the Seed of the man without the womans Egg; and that in the Stomach too, full of fermentaceous Juices and Aliments to be concocted. I admire that Philip Salmuth, a Learned Man, should give so much credit to an old Womans Fable, as to think it wor∣thy to be inserted among his Observati∣ons. Nor does that Story of a Child born at Pont a Mo•…•…sson, conceiv'd and form'd in the middle of the Abdomen, and found there after the death of the Mother, deserve more credit. Which Story was printed by Laurence Strasius at Dormstadt, in the Year 1662. with the Judgments of several famous Physicians and Professors upon it: Which Story I know not how it can be true, unless you will say, that perhaps the Egg being be∣fore impregnated by the dew of the Male-seed in the Ovary, and ready to fall out of the Stones into the Tubes, coming by chance to the Borders of the Tubes, should slip into the Cavity of the Abdo∣men, before its entrance into the Tube, and so by the cherishing heat of that place the Birth should be form'd therein: which nevertheless seems very improba∣ble; and therefore such Stories as these not without reason, are derided and ex∣ploded by the Learned Guido Patinus, Bartholine, and others.

XXVIII. Concerning the motion of* 1.694 the womb, there is a famous Question started, whether it ascend or tumble to and fro, as it is said to do in the Hysteric Passion, or Fits of the Mo∣ther. The affirmative part is defended by Aretaeus, Fernelius, Laurentius, Spigelius, and especially by Daniel Sennertus, who Prax. l. 4. part. 1. sect. 2. c. 15. cites and applauds the Opinions of the foresaid Physicians as infallible Oracles, and makes a great addition of farther Proof; and rejects the contrary Opinion of Ga∣len, as altogether repugnant to truth. Now the Reasons that perswaded those Learned Men into the affirmative, were chiefly these two:

• 1. The Perswasions of idle women, who affirm that they not only perceive it within the Globe of the womb as big as a Goos-egg, ascend in the Hysteric Passi∣on as high as the Diaphragma, but also feel it outwardly with their hands; nay, some are so confident as to tell you, they feel it as high as their Throats. Ferne∣lius l. 6. patholog. c. 16. writes, That he, being induc'd by the Complaints and Intreaties of the Women, has some∣times felt it with his hand carried up in∣to the Stomach like a little Globe, by which it has been strangely oppress'd.
• 2. The Fumes; because that in the hysteric Suffocation, stinking Smells held to the Nostrils, either diminish or take away the Effect; but sweet Smells ex∣asperate and bring the fit. Of which the first they say proceeds from hence, because

• the womb, which is endu'd as it were with a sort of reason, flies stinking smells, which being held to the Nose, it presently descends to avoid 'em. The latter, because it is delighted with sweet smells, and therefore if they be apply'd to the Nostrils, it presently ascends to meet 'em. And that which seems to con∣firm this Opinion the more, is this, be∣cause the same sweet things being rubb'd about the inside of the Privity, imme∣diately abates the fit; because the womb, as they say, descends to those things with which it is delighted.

From whence they conclude, That the Womb ascends with a spontaneous Motion, and may be mov'd any way; nor ought that to be wonder'd at, say they, when its Motion upward in Wo∣men with Child, and downward in the falling of the Womb, is a thing so well known.

These Reasons were thought to be of so much weight by many, that they led men of great repute into the Labyrinth of Error. But on the other side, That the womb does not ascend upward of its own accord, nor is mov'd with a wan∣dring Motion through the lower Belly, may be demonstrated by several Rea∣sons.

• 1. The Ligaments prevent it; not on∣ly the Vermiform, those in the shape of a Worm, but chiefly the Lateral, like to the Wings of Batts, which are so strong, that they can by no means suffer such a suddain Extension. Add to this, That the Uterine Sheath is also firmly fastened to the neighbouring parts, the Bladder, the right Intestine, the Privity, &c. All which parts in the ascent of the womb, would be likewise drawn up to∣gether toward the upper parts with great pain and trouble; and yet we never hear those that are troubled with fits of the Mother▪ ever complain of any such pain∣ful Attraction.
• 2. The womb is so small in empty women, that it cannot extend it self to the Diaphragma, tho' it should be vio∣lently dragg'd up by the hand; or at∣tenuated by extraordinary Extension in∣to the thinnest Membrane that can be.
• 3. In a Woman with Child, tho' it be large, yet no rational man will say, that in an hysteric Suffocation the womb with the birth included in it, is able to ascend to the Diaphragma and the Throat.
• 4. In the dissected Bodies of those that have dy'd of the hysteric Passion, of which I have dissected many, I have often observ'd that neither the womb was swell'd, nor any way remov'd out of his place, tho' while they liv'd, at the very last gasp they have complain'd extream∣ly of its ascent to the Diaphragma, and their very Throats. Nay more, in the said Distemper I have rarely met with any fault in the womb, but have •…•…ound it in one or both Stones.

XXIX. The Globe or Substance* 1.695 which is said to ascend from the lower Belly to the Stomach and higher, is not the Womb, nor, as Riolanus be∣lieves, the Stones or Tubes of the Womb, swelling with putrify'd Seed, and violently agitated up and down; for those parts are not so loose nor so bigg, as to ascend above the Stomach, or to be felt, as big as a Hen or a Goose∣egg; but the Intestines or Guts, which are struck and torn by some malignant and sharp Vapors, ascending from the Womb or the Stones; as in the Epilep∣sie, a sharp malignant Vapour arises from the great Toe, or some other part, to the Head, and there by its Vellica∣tion causes an unusual and vehement Contraction of the Nerves. Now this pain in the Guts being communicated to the Sense in the Head, presently to repel the Mischief, and exclude the Cause, a great number of Animal Spirits are po∣sted into their Fibres, by the swelling of which the Guts are contracted, and then if there be any wind in the Guts, as ge∣nerally there is, they contract themselves about that wind, and by compressing and squeezing it together, make that same Globe. And thus by the Acrimony of the same Vapour ascending higher, the Diaphragma, the Muscles of the Throat and Jaws, and other parts, are contracted by the copious influx of Animal Spirits, whence proceeds that Suffocation. Nor does the hard binding of a broad Swathe or a long Napkin about the belly avail in such a case, to hinder the ascent of that same Substance or Globe which wo∣men take to be their womb, any other∣wise, than only because that by means of that hard binding, the copious ascent of that sharp malignant Vapour, ari∣sing from the womb or stones, is hin∣der'd, which Vapour being then de∣tain'd below that Ligature, is dissipa∣ted by the heat of the surrounding parts.

XXX. Here by the way we are* 1.696 to take notice, that Francis de le Boe Sylvius, with whom Regner de Graef, agrees in this Particular, does not acknowledg the forementioned cause of the Hysteric Passion, but has imagined another quite different; that is to say, that the Fault of the Pan∣creatic Iuice is the only cause of the Hysteric Symptomes aforesaid, and so most couragiously rejects the Opi∣nions in this case of all the antient and most of the modern Physicians, and excuses the Womb and spermatick Parts from being the Occasion of those Symptoms. But altho' some Symp∣toms having as it were some Similitude with some hysteric Effects, may some∣times be occasioned by the defects of the Pancreatic Juice, which I am un∣willing altogether to deny, yet by di∣ligent Observation they may be suffi∣ciently distinguished one from the o∣ther, and I my self have observ'd 'em no less in Men than in Women: never∣theless always to accuse the unfortunate Pancreas of this Miscarriage seems a little too hard, when the Dissections of Women, as well by my self as others, many times instructed us, that the Sweet∣bread had no share many times in those hysteric Affections, as being altogether sound and perfect; but that the Fault lay in the Stones, that were very much swell'd, sometimes one, and sometimes both, half as bigg as a Hens Egg, some∣times ill coloured, and full of a viru∣lent Liquor; and when as also it has been observed that in such a uterine Suffocation, that all the Symptomes have ceased upon Copulation, or the evacuation of Seed upon the Midwife's digitizing the part affected; and that by the use of moderate Coition the re∣turn of the Fit has been prevented, whereas the same Remedies us'd could no way avail to remove any Distem∣per of the pancreatic Juice either easily, suddainly, well or pleasantly.

XXXI. Neither can any thing be* 1.697 concluded from Scents in behalf of the said Opinion touching the Moti∣on of the Womb. For the Womb is not endued with Understanding, and consequently is no way affected with this or that good or bad Smell. For it has no Nose, nor any other Organ of Smelling, and therefore makes no Di∣stinction between sweet or stinking Smells: neither covets or loves, or flies or hates either the one or the other; neither is sensible of any Smells as Smells; neither is affected by them, as they are Smells, but by their hot attenuating sharp discussing Quality.

XXXII. Now that stinking Smells* 1.698 held to the Nostrils abate the Hyste∣ric Fit, it is not because the Womb avoiding the Stench of stinking Smells descends, but because the Sense of smelling being offended by the ill Smells, the Brain contracts it self; and so not only sends fewer Spirits to the contracting Fibres of the Guts, and Nerves of the Mesentery, the Diaphragma, and the Muscles of the Iaws, but also stops the Entrance of the Vapors ascending from the Testi∣cles and Womb into those Parts, and expells those that were entered before. Which stinking Smells by virtue of their singular discussing Faculty dissipate as well in the Brain as in the Jaws, and so the Woman not only recovers herself, but upon the Relaxation of the Mus∣cles of the Jaws is freed from her Fit.

XXXIII. On the other side sweet* 1.699 Smells increase the Fit, not because the Womb ascends to meet 'em, but because while their Fragrancie delights the Sense, to the end the woman may the longer enjoy that Pleasure, the Brain dilates it self, and so not on∣ly permits a greater Quantity of Spi∣rits to flow to the Fibres aforesaid, and increase the Fit, but also admits more plentifully a greater Quantity of noxious Vapours ascending from the Womb, through the Pores every way dilated; whence the Effects of the Hysterical Passion, Anxietie, Raving, Drowsiness, and sometimes Epileptic Convulsions, &c. But sweet things being rubb'd about the inside of the Privity, because they attenuate the thick and ma∣lignant Humours, they dilate the Pores, and powerfully discuss.

Trincavel, Eustachius Rudius, Her∣cules Saxonia, and Mercurialis give quite different Reasons for this thing, which Daniel Sennertus rejects and refutes: Who nevertheless not being well able to get out of this Labyrinth, and finding that the Womb is not sensible of Smells, nor is affected by 'em as they are Smells, flys to a certain hidden Quality affecting the Womb, imperceptible to

our Senses, which he believes to adhere in such a manner to the Odours, as not to be separated from 'em. But there is no such need in this case of flying to any such occult Quality, when the whole thing is plainly to be made out by ma∣nifest Qualities and Reasons.

XXXIV. That the Womb in wo∣men* 1.700 with Child extends it self every way, or slips out in falling down, makes nothing to prove its sponta∣neous Motion: For in Women with Child the womb does not simply ascend, but grows and swells upward and round about through all its parts: For as the Birth grows, so its Domicil inlarges it self; and the bigger the Child grows, the bigger, thicker, and more fleshy be∣comes the womb; so that near the time of Delivery it comes to be as thick as a Mans Thumb, or the breadth of two Fingers. Which is not caused by the sole Influence of the Blood and Humours into the Porosities of the womb, but by a real, firm, and fleshy Increment. But there is a great Diffe∣rence between the inlarging of the womb, and its spontaneous Motion. For the one requires a long time, the other is done in a Moment, and should and ought to cease: In the one the Substance of the womb is enlarged and thicken'd, in the other it ought to be extended and attenuated.

XXXV. In the falling down of the* 1.701 Womb, the Motion is not Spontane∣ous, for the Ligaments of it being loosened, and the Substance of it be∣ing affected with a cold and moist Distemper, it falls with its own weight, as all heavy things, and pa∣ralytic Members, having lost their own spontaneous Motion, slip down∣wards. In the same manner as a Man who falls from a high Stee∣ple, does not move himself downward of his own accord, but is mov'd by his own weight against his will. From all which it is apparent, that the womb moves neither upward nor downward, nor tumbles about the lower Belly with a vagous Motion; but sometimes by accident, sometimes through Lankness slides to the sides and lower parts.

XXXVI. But against this our Con∣clusion* 1.702 another Difficulty opposes it self: That is, if the Womb do not move it self of its own accord, how comes it to pass, that sometimes af∣ter the Death of the Mother, the Birth in the womb is expell'd forth? Thus Bartholinus, in the Treatise entit∣led Phinx Theologico Philosophica, re∣lates the Story of an Infant, that with a loud cry was brought safe and sound out of the womb of the dead Mother. And such was the Birth of Scipio and Manlius, upon the Records of History. Eber also produces an Example of a Child born after the Death of his Mo∣ther; and Rolfinch produces another out of the memorable Speeches of Wolfang Silberus. Three more are cited by Phi∣lip Salmuth; Bartholin also testifies the same thing to have happened at Coppen∣hagen Hist. Anat. Cent. 1. And I remem∣ber another Accident of the same Na∣ture that was told me at Montfurt. Har∣vey also relates another of the same na∣ture, Exercit. de part. A Woman, says he, being dead in the Evening, was left alone in the Chamber, and the next Morning the Child was found between her Thighs, having made its own way. Now as to the Difficulty, we say this, That the Mother being dead, the In∣fant may for some time survive in the womb; so that being alive and strong, and the Orifice of the womb open, and the Genitals being slippery and loose by reason of the preceding Labours, and the Efflux of the serous Matter, it may so happen that the strugling Birth may get forth by its own Endeavours, tho' as∣sisted by no Motion of the dead womb; and that such Births have been frequent∣ly cut out of the Abdomens of the dead Mother is notoriously known. But the first Accident rarely happens tho' fre∣quently it falls out, that women after most bitter Pangs of Childbearing, their Strength failing, fall into a profound Swoon, so that they are thought to be dead, and are sometimes buried for such, tho' it has been known that they have afterwards come to themselves. VVhich often happens to those that are troubled with the Hysteric Passion, and for that reason being thought to be dead, are committed fairly to the Ground, as the Observations of many Physicians make manifest. Iohannes Matthaeus, Physician to the Marquis of Baden, pro∣duces a memorable Example of this. Quaest. medicar. 4. An Accident deser∣ving Compassion, says he, happened at Madrid in Spain, where a noble Matron, of the Family of D. Francis de Lasso, after she had lain in a Trance for three days after a hard Travel, her Relations believing her dead, was carried into the Vault appointed for the Burial of the Fa∣mily.

Some Months after the Vault be∣ing opened, for the Burial of some other Person, the Carcass was found in the same place where it was laid, holding a dead Infant in her right Arm.

Whence it appears that the Matron, when she was buried, was not really dead, but had been delivered of an un∣fortunate Infant, which she held in her Arms. Now in such a case I say it may easily happen, that the woman which was thought to be dead the day before, the next day was delivered, and in a shorttime after expired: For in extra∣ordinary Cases of Necessity, Nature sometimes performs wonders. For which Reason, the woman is thought to have been delivered after her Death, who nevertheless was not dead at the time of her Delivery. So that from hence no spontaneous or proper Motion of the womb can be inferred. If after this, any one will be so obstinate as to believe that the womb is alive after the De∣cease of the woman, and is mov'd of it self by its own proper Power, of ne∣cessity with Plato he will split upon a most hard Rock of Absurdity, while he concludes that the womb is a Creature of it self, not living a Life common to the rest of the Body; and hence it will follow that one Creature is composed of two, or that one Creature is the perfecting part of the other.

CHAP. XXVI. Of the Parts of the Womb.

I. IN the womb particularly are* 1.703 to be considered the Bottom, the Neck, the Sheath, and the Si∣nus Pudoris, or Mouth of the Pri∣vity it self.

II. The Bottom is the uppermost* 1.704 part of the womb, properly colled the Matrix, Uterus, or Womb, outward∣ly smooth and equal, besmear'd with a slippery sort of Liquor, in women not separated by any winding Promi∣nencies of Horns, nor so distingui∣shed with Cells, as in most part of Beasts that bring forth living Con∣ceptions, It is harder and thicker in those that are not with Child, about the bigness of a Pigeons Egg, or somewhat bigger, which varies however accor∣ding to the use of Copulation, Con∣ception, and Age.

III. It has one Hollowness, yet not* 1.705 exactly round, but somewhat stretched forth on both sides as it were like a Horn, toward the sides, in Persons deceased, hardly able to hold a Kid∣ney Bean, but without doubt more loose in libidinous Coition; somewhat rugged with wrinkles for the better Retention of the Seed, and in women, before they come to be with Child, besmear'd with a viscous kind of Slime. This is distinguished with a kind of large Seam into the right and left Part: In one of which Males, in the other Females are conceived, as Hippo∣crates and Galen have asserted. In the narrow Streights of this Cavity, the Vivific Spirit of Male Seed infused into the womans Egg, finishes out of it self that wonderful Structure of so many Parts, so that at length a noble Crea∣ture, shortly to ascend Heaven it self, breaks out of this small, close, and na∣sty Prison.

IV. The Neck of the womb, which* 1.706 many confound with the Sheath, is the lower and narrower part of the womb, containing the innermost Orifice of the womb. VVhich Hole is oblong and transverse, or overthwart, like the Hole in the nut of the Yard; in Vir∣gins narrow and smooth, but in such as have had Children, bigger, and furnish'd as it were with two Lips somewhat hard, or little pieces of Flesh somewhat Tumid, which Lips are hard∣ly or never to be found in Virgins. This Orifice is exactly shut after the Reception of the Seed, and as it were seal'd up with a slimy viscous yellowish Humour, that by the Report of Galen, it will not admit the point of a Probe, neither does it open before the time of Travel, unless by •…•…ervent and libidinous Coition, whence sometimes happens Superfoetation. But at the time of De∣livery for the Expulsion of the Birth it dilates and spreads after a miraculous manner like a Rose; and then the fore∣said Lips of the Orifice, as I have ob∣serv'd in women deceased when bigg with Child, equal in thickness half a Finger, very loose, slippery, and hol∣low* 1.707 like a Spunge.

V. Rarely the Yard of a Man in Copulation reaches so far as this Ori∣fice,

which Riolanus however asserts may happen sometimes. It may be, says he, that a longer Yard, when the Orifice is open, at the time when the Flowers flow, being thrust into that Orifice, may be there detain'd and squeez'd, as happens in the Lime∣ing of Bitches; which that it has hap∣pen'd to some, I am credibly inform'd. Thus when I was a Student at Leyden, I remember, there was a young Bride∣groom in that Town, that being over∣wanton with his Bride, had so hamper'd himself in her Privities▪ that he could not draw his Yard forth, till Delmehorst the Physician unty'd the Knot, by cast∣ing cold Water upon the part.

Certainly 'tis a wonder how such a narrow Orifice of the Womb can be so much dilated, as to receive the Nut of the Yard; which is the reason some think it impossible to be done, and look upon as Fables, whatever has been said touching this matter. But this is to be said, that in a very fervent Lust, all those obscene parts grow very hot, and are relax'd to that degree, as to receive the Yard with ease: as appears by the Uterine Sheath, which not being heated by libidinous Ardour, is so strait that it will not admit the Yard without diffi∣culty, but in the Act of Venery, thro' the more copious affluency of Blood and Spi∣rits, stiffens, grows warm, and swells, and then becomes so loose, and soft, that it ea∣sily receives the Yard. Therefore it would be no wonder, if in some, through extream Lust, this Orifice of the Womb be so relax'd, as to admit the Yard, e∣specially if the Sheath be short, and the Yard so long as to reach and enter the Sybilline Chink. Nor is this more to be admired at, than that the Orifice it self in time of Labour, should of its own ac∣cord be so relax'd for a large Infant to pass thorough, or for the Chirurgeon to thrust in his Hand and part of his Arm to draw forth the Birth, when necessity requires.

VI. Continuous to the bottom and* 1.708 neck of the Womb, is the Greater Neck or Gate of the Womb, com∣monly call'd the Vagina or Sheath; because it receives the Yard like a Sheath.

This is a smooth and soft Chanel, e∣very way enclosing and grasping the Yard in Copulation, furnish'd with fleshie Fibres running out in length, by which it is fasten'd to the other adjacent parts; and withinside, full of orbicular furrows or wrinkles, more in the upper part than the lower, and more toward the Privity than toward the Womb, and un∣equal, to procure the greater pleasure of Titillation from rubbing to and fro; of a membranous, and as it were nervous, and somewhat spungy Substance, which swells in the heat of Lust, the better to embrace the Yard; about the length of the middle finger, and as broad as the Intestinum Rectum. Nevertheless, the length, breadth, and loosness of it vary according to the Age of the Person, her Use of Venery, and her natural Consti∣tution: and sometimes this length and breadth of the Sheath varies according to the length or bigness of the Yard in Men. Whence Spigelius thus writes, Annat. l. 8. c. 22. The Sheath every where embraces the Yard, and frames it self to all i•…•…s Dimen∣sions, so that it meets a short one, gives way to a long one, dilates to a thick one, and straitens to a small one: for Nature so ma∣nages all these differences, in respect to the magnitude of the Yard, that it is needless to endeavour to fit the Tools, or regard their proportion, for that the great Fabri∣cator has every where done it so admi∣rably.

In like manner in Virgins, and Wo∣men not so prone to Venery, as in those that never had Children or Labour under an immoderate Flux of their Flowers, or their Whites, the wrinkles are much deeper and thicker, and more numerous; but in Women that have had many Chil∣dren, as also in Harlots often lain with∣al, they are neither so deep nor so nu∣merous, if not many times worn smooth.

VII. This Sheath in Infants is re∣markably* 1.709 capacious, tho' the Orifice be very narrow: as it is also in grown Virgins never lain with, which in the first act of Coition is somewhat dilated, with the rupture of the Hymen; but in Women that use but moderate Co∣pulation, it remains still in such a condition, that the Yard passes through a kind of looser sort of Sphincter Muscle toward the innermost Sheath.

VIII. It is furnish'd with Vessels* 1.710 of all sorts. It has two sorts of Arte∣ries: some from the Haemorrhoidal* 1.711 Arteries, creeping through the lower part of it; others from the Hypoga∣strics descending along the sides of it, and then dispers'd through the whole Sheath, and in the upper part for the

most part adhering to the Arteries of the Womb.

IX. Several Veins it sends forth from* 1.712 its lower part to the Haemorrhoidals; the rest, far more in number, and eve∣ry way dispers'd into its Substance, to the Hypogastrics, into which they empty the Blood which is contain'd in 'em, from thence to be conveigh'd far∣ther to the greater Vessels, and so to the heart. And out of these Blood∣bearing Vessels it is that that same little Net is form'd discover'd by Regner de Graef.

X. It receives its Nerves from those* 1.713 that run out from the Os Sacrum.

XI. Regner de Graef also writes,* 1.714 That he has here observ'd certain very small Lymphatic Vessels, which in their ascent penetrating through the External Substance of the Womb, meet together by degrees, and increase like small Rivulets, till they came to the great Receptacle of the Chylus, and then open themselves into it.

Besides these Vessels, there run out in∣to the forepart of the Sheath those Cha∣nels sticking to the Substance of the Uri∣nary Passage, of which hereafter.

XII. To the end of it, that is, at* 1.715 its first entrance under the Nymphs, both before and atop adheres the neck of the Piss-bladder, wrapt about with the Sphincter, having there an Exit; but in the hinder part it is firmly fa∣sten'd with the binding Muscle of the Intestinum Rectum.

Regner de Graef has well observ'd, that the Sphincter of the Bladder em∣braces the lower part of the Sheath with a conveighance of Fibres, three fingers broad; to the end that in Coition it might be able gently to close it self a∣bout the Yard; which Constriction▪ he believes to be mainly helped forward by other Bodies, found out by himself, of which he thus writes: To this Constricti∣on those Bodies contribute after a wonderful manner, which, the fleshie Expansions ari∣sing from the Sphincter, being remov'd, appear on both sides near the Lips of the Privity in the lower part of the Sheath. For they ascend on both sides to the mem∣branous Substance, which is fasten'd to the neighbouring Parts, and to the Clitoris▪ and there terminate and vanish: so that the Bodies of the right and left side have no Communion one with another; as may be seen if either be fill'd with Wine: for the Body of the right side being blown up, the left never swells; neither if the left be fill'd, is the right distended, or the Clitoris ere∣cted. The outward Substance of these con∣sists of a very thin Membrane; the inner, which for the most part, like the inner Sub∣stance of the Clitoris, by reason of the quan∣tity of coagulated Blood, is of a blackish co∣lour, is woven out of several little Fibres and Vessels, united and twisted one among another, which for its resemblance to a Net is call'd Plexus Retiformis, the Net re∣sembling Fold.

This Plexus Retiformis, or Net-re∣sembling* 1.716 Fold is in my opinion there plac'd, that the Orifice of the Sheath may be so much the closer straiten'd, and the Virile Member straitly embrac'd: For being di∣stended with that plenty of Blood, when by reason of the fleshie Fibres of the Sphincter Muscle compressing it, it cannot swell out∣ward, it must swell inwardly, and straiten the Orifice of the Sheath. Now the disten∣sion of these parts will appear to the Eye, if the bloody Vessels running through along the back of the Clitoris be fill'd with a little breath, for then the whole Privity swells together with that same Fold.

Now because this Chanel of the Sheath is narrower in Virgins, many, with Soranus, believe that the pain which Virgins feel in the first act of Coition, and the Blood which breaks forth, is caus'd by the Dilatation of this Chanel by the Yard, and the Rupture of the little Veins and Arteries passing tho∣rough it; which others rather ascribe to the Rupture of the Vagina, or Sheath.

XIII. The Use of the Vagina, or* 1.717 Sheath, is to receive the Yard, to em∣brace and gently gird it self about it. To this end it grows warm in the heat of Lust, by reason of the Afflux of Blood and Spirits to it. So that it is somewhat in a manner erected, and dilates it self, the more conveni∣ently to admit the Yard. Whereas, when that heat is over by reason of its laxity and softness, it prevents the en∣trance of the External Air; nor if the woman be in a Bathe, will it admit water to enter the womb: but when a woman has her monthly Purgations, or is troubled with the Whites, as also in time of Labour it does not dilate it self, but the closing sides of it, being press'd down by the weight of the Birth, and Hu∣mours part one from another, and so are compelled to give way to necessary E∣vacuation.

XIV. Now that the Vagina must* 1.718 and ought to be dilated in the same manner as has been said, and with∣out that dilatation would hardly admit the Virile Member, is plain from those women that take no pleasure either in a violent or unvoluntary Coition; but rather on the other side, complain of great pains, by reason of the violent forcing of the sides of the Vagina one from another through the force of the entring Yard: and is yet more apparent from the pain that some Virgins feel that come to be lain withal before they have any understanding, and consequently no understanding to warm them to the Acti∣on. In reference to which Plazzonus relates a very sad Story. Lately, says he, it hap∣pened, that a young man being to lye with his Bride the first night, what with his eager haste, and the robustious intrusion of his Member, he not only broke the neck of her Bladder, but the Intestinum Rectum, withal. For which I could give no other Reason, but that her Privity, not us'd to erection, slagg'd in its first performance of admitting and receiving her Husband's first Addresses. Thus, I remember, that I knew a young Bride in upper Batavia, to whom, by the violent immission of the Yard in the first Act of Coition, and suddain dilatation of the Vagina, there happen'd such a prodigious Flux of Blood, that in three hours she lost her Life, together with her Virginity. And the like unfortunate Accident some years ago befell the Daughter of a cer∣tain Citizen of Utrecht, who was so wounded the first night, that before morn∣ing, the Flux of Blood not being to be stopp'd, she expir'd.

XV. Below the insertion of the* 1.719 Neck of the Bladder, in Virgins, there appears a thin nervous Mem∣brane, continuous to the Neck of the Substance, and sticking orbicularly to its sides, interwoven with fleshie Fibres, and furnish'd with many little Arteries and Veins, and bor'd through the middle for the Efflux of the month∣ly Purgations, that in grown Virgins it will hardly admit the top of the lit∣tle finger, which the Ancients call'd Hymen, others the Claustrum of Vir∣ginity, others the Girdle of Chastity. Which being safe and whole, is a cer∣tain sign of Virginity, and being that which must of necessity be broken by the first irruption of the Virile Member, and sen•…•…s forth a small quantity of Blood, which they call Flos Virginitatis, the Flower of Virginity: but being broken, it vanishes, and never more grows a∣gain.

XVI. This Membrane, to the* 1.720 great loss of health, has been observ'd by Cabrolius, Vesalius, and others, not thin and perforated, as is before mention'd; but somewhat thick, firm, and contiguous, and sometimes bor'd through like a Sive. So in the Year 1666. in the Month of March, we dis∣sected a young Woman of three and twenty years of Age, wherein we found that same Membrane continuous, not perforated at all, and so firm, that the stoutest Efforts of a lusty young Bride grown could never have pierc'd it.

Now when it is so extreamly strong, then in grown Women, there is a stop∣page of the Flowers, and other Evacua∣tions that way, which is the Death of many Virgins, unless cur'd by cutting the Membrane; of which sort of Cure there are several Examples to be found in Benivenius, Wierus, Aquapendens, Hil∣dan, and several others. Here some have been of Opinion, That the said Membrane, hard and unperforated, is a Substance quite different from the Hy∣men, growing there contrary to the order of Nature: whereas in truth it is the Hymen it self, preternaturally harden'd to that Solidity, neither will any man ever find any other.

XVII. Many question the truth of* 1.721 this Membrane, others deny that ever it was found, and account as Fables whatever has been said concerning the Hymen. Others with Oribasius, Soranus, Fernelius, and Laurentius, conceited Virginity to be nothing else than the wrinkled straitness of the Fe∣male Vagina, overspread with Veins, the dilaceration of which in the first Act of Coition, and the rupture of the little Veins, by means of the same vi∣olence, causes a light Flux of Blood. But Vesalius and Fallopius, most expert Anatomists, have found that Membrane in all Virgins, as have also Columbus, Plater, Picolomni, Iubart, Spigelius, Wierus, Regner de Graef, and several other eminent Persons, to whose Ocular Testimony we must give credit. And not only they, but I my self, at the Dis∣section of a Virgin about two and twen∣ty years of Age, in Decemb. 1671. shew'd that Membrane to several Students in

Physic, resembling a membranous Ring orbicularly plac'd in the Vagina of the Womb, with a hole in the middle as big as the top of the little finger, not exactly round, but somewhat oblong in the upper part. And Swammerdam writes that he took out such a Hymen out of the Body of a Virgin which resembled the flat perforated small Ring, that is put under the Glass in Prospective Glas∣ses, and closes all the rest of the opening of the Tube; as this Membrane shuts up the Tube of the Sheath, and the outer∣most Neck of the Womb.

XVIII. It is question'd by some,* 1.722 Whether upon the want of that Mem∣brane it may be well and truly said, that such a Maid, where such a defect is found, has been deflowr'd by another Man? Riolanus well observes, That the defect of this Membrane is not al∣ways a sign of deflowr'd Virginity; be∣cause▪ most certainly it is not to be found in all Virgins: For many times lascivi∣ous and wanton Girls break that Mem∣brane unknowingly, in their imitation of Coition, with their Finger, or any other Instrument. Besides, that in some it is so thin and so soft, that easily gi∣ving way in the first Act, it neither makes any resistance against the Bride∣groom, nor does it bleed at all.

Besides that, it may be corroded away by the passing thorough of sharp Hu∣mours, or else broken by a fall or a blow, or by the Midwives finger, as in the Hysteric Passion.

Now that it may be so relax'd and soften'd by the Afflux of the Flowers, and other Humours, as to give free pas∣sage to the Yard without pain or trou∣ble, and will dilate rather than be dila∣cerated, and consequently never emit a∣ny blood in the first Act, Pinaeus makes out by two Examples, which he cites Lib. 1. de Not. Virgin. c. 6. And thus that Text in Deuteronomy is certainly to be expounded: that is to say, if the red piece of Linnen were shew'd, then there was no doubt to be made of the Virgi∣nity of the Maid: but notwithstanding, if it could not be produc'd, yet however it was not to be concluded that the Maid had lost her Virginity; but before too severe a Sentence be pronounc'd, inqui∣ry was to be made, why that Efflux of Blood fail'd in the first Coition; whether she had been broken up before, or whe∣ther it might not be an effect of any other of those Natural Causes by me recited.

But before I leave this place, I cannot but add the elegant Verses of Catullus, which he writes De slore Virginitatis, to wit, concerning that Blood which com∣monly breaks forth upon the Rupture of the Membrane Hymen, in the first Coiti∣on.

Ut slos in septis secretis nascitur hortis, Ignotus pecori, nullo contusus aratro: Quem mulcent aurae, firmat Sol, educat im∣ber, Multi illum pueri, multae optavere puellae. Idem cum tenui carptus defloruit ungue. Nulli illum pueri, nullae optavere puellae. Sic Virgo, dum intacta manet, tum chara suis: sed Cum Castum amisit, polluto corpore, slorem, Nec pueris jucunda manet, nec chara puellis.

Which I render into English thus:

As Flowers in enclosed Gardens grow, Not cropt by Beasts, nor bruised by the Plough: Whose brighter Glories, Solar Beams invest, And Fragrancies by gentle Rain increast; Invites all Human kind, to love, and take: That same, when cropt, its Beauty does forsake. Those that before ador'd it, now despise And slight the once dear Object of their Eyes.

Such is a Virgin, while she so remains, While her unspotted Honour she re∣tains. But when that's blasted, she's no more the same; Nor to her Virgin Vertues can lay claim. But like a wither'd Flower is undon, And by all Human kind is pist upon. Those that before ador'd her, now despise, And slight the once dear Object of their Eyes.

XIX. Upon this Membrane rest* 1.723 four Carunculae, or little pieces of flesh, call'd the Myrtiformes, Myrtle shap'd, because they resemble the Berries of Myr∣tle; so plac'd, that every one possesses an Angle, and answer one another in a square. One of 'em, bigger than the rest, and forked, belongs to the hole of the Urinary passage, which it shuts when the Urine is voided. The second stands behind opposite to this: the o∣ther two are collateral.

These Carunculae, or little pieces of Flesh, in some are shorter, in some long∣er, thicker or slenderer. Which are said to meet together, with certain little

Membranes, in the outermost part, leaving a hole in the middle, whose closing together some take for the Hymen Membrane.

XX. They are said to be appointed* 1.724 for Pleasure and Titillation while their being swell'd and puff't up, straitens and bewitchingly squeezes the Yard.

These Caruncles are so describ'd by several Anatomists, as if they were to be found in all Women; when there is on∣ly one to be found in Virgins, but all four are to be found in Persons deflowr'd. But as for the second Membrane, made by the closing of these Caruncles, over and above the Hymen, I shall believe it when any Body shews it me.

Riolanus, the most accurate Anato∣mist of his time, not without reason suspects those three lesser Tunicles, not to be real little pieces of Flesh, but little swellings or warts proceeding from the Rupture of the Hymen, and the wrink∣ling the Vagina of the Privity: and re∣ports that he has found that wrinkled roughness altogether levell'd for the pas∣sages of the Child, in Women that have been deliver'd six or seven days, which, were they true little pieces of Flesh, would preserve their shape and substance in the distension of the Neck of the Womb; or at least some sign of 'em would re∣main, whereas there is nothing to be seen of 'em, but when the Privity is a∣gain reduc'd to its accustom'd straitness. He adds, that these three little Bodies, were they real little pieces of Flesh, would be a great impediment to Women in La∣bour, for that their roughness and ine∣quality would hinder the Egress of the Infant. He proves the truth of this As∣sertion by Ocular view and experience, affirming that in the Dissections of Vir∣gins, after he had separated the Nymphs, he found a fleshie or circular Membrane, perforated with a little hole in the mid∣dle, big enough for a Pea to go through, which Membrane being torn, he saw no other Caruncles, but one always apply'd to the Orifice of the Bladder; but the other three he never found; and conje∣ctures the foremention'd Caruncle to be the Extremity of the Sphincter of the Bladder.

XXI. Therefore in regard they only* 1.725 are to be found in married People, the Hymen being broken, and not in Vir∣gins, he strongly infers that those three lesser Caruncles, are nothing else than the Angular parts of this broken Mem∣brane, pucker'd up into a heap by the wrinkling of the fleshie Vagina. And thus has this most excellent Person, by his great Experience, unfolded those doubts, which have hitherto occasion'd so many Disputes among Anatomists concerning the Hymen, and the Carunc'es.

XXII. The outward part of the* 1.726 Womb, call'd in Greek 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, in Latin Pudendum Muliebre, Membrum Genitale, and Vulva, as it were Valva, or a Folding Door, being clos'd with two Valva's and Nymphs like Folding Doors; also Orificium Exterius, the Outward O∣rifice, and Cunnus, from 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, to conceive; in English, the Womans Privities or Quaint, is seated in the foremost Region of the Share-bone.

XXIII. In Virgins it is much less* 1.727 and thicker than in those that have had Children, and in those that are ar∣riv'd at years of Maturity, is cover'd with Hair above and on each side, while Nature endeavours to hide the obscene Part.

Spigelius believes there may be a cer∣tain Judgment made of the bigness of the Privity by several External Marks. For, says he Anat. l. 1. c. 10. the propor∣tion of the Womans Privity is to be taken for the most part from her mouth: for they that have wide mouths and large eyes, have generally large Privities; and I have ob∣serv'd by manifold Experience, that all thick and fat Women that have large Breasts and Bellies, have also large Privi∣ties. On the other side, they that have lit∣tle flat Breasts, a narrow Mouth, a peeked Chin, and thin Lips, have likewise straiter and narrower Privities.

XXIV. The outward Lips appear* 1.728 first to the Eye, which toward the Hair are somewhat thicker and higher rais'd, and there closing, and more protube∣rant, compose the Mount of Venus,* 1.729 as being seated at the Threshold of Ve∣nus's Temple, which they that offer to Venus must be forc'd to enter.

XXV. They are compos'd of a pecu∣liar* 1.730 fleshie Substance, and in some measure spungy, which in heat of Lust swells, and at the time of Delivery becomes very soft and tumid. It was my hap to see in two Women newly deliver'd of the Birth, when the Secun∣dine follow'd, their Lips so loosen'd, and a great part of the Uterine Liver thrust it self into them; whereupon the Mid∣wife,

not understanding what such an unusual Accident meant, the Physician and Surgeon were call'd, who observing the Lips to be stuff't with the said Liver, and for that reason unusually swell'd, and withal, as it were a piece of black Flesh budding forth, thought the Pri∣vity to be torn in the Labour, and the part to be already gangren'd. There∣upon believing the Woman to be in ve∣ry great danger, I was sought for. But when I came to view the Privity, I pre∣sently observ'd that black Flesh to be a part of the Vterine Liver, which had thrust it self into the Lips, being inward∣ly dilated, which being drawn out with a pair of Nippers, both Women were freed from the imaginary fear of any Gangrene.

XXVI. Riolanus attributes to these* 1.731 Lips a slight Motion of Dilatation and Constriction, which he affirms to have been often experienced in lustful Women, stimulated more than usually with the stings of Venery. And farther, he says that the Constriction is made by the Muscle of the Clitoris, extended under the Lips of the Privity; and the Dilatation by the other Muscle, which is under the Ligament. Lindan will rather have these two Muscles ex∣tended from the Sphincter of the Podex through the Groyns, and being thin and broad, to be inserted into the Internal Front of the Lips, and upon the Evacua∣tion of Urine, that the Lips are by them divided, and after pissing clos'd again.

XXVII. Near to the Lips stand* 1.732 two fleshie soft Productions, call'd Nymphae, Nymphs, or Wings; in Greek 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. These arise at the joyning together or commissure of the Share-bones, where they are joyn'd with an acute Angle, and constitute the wrinkl'd fleshie Production, that clothes the Clitoris, like the Praeputi∣um; and descend about half way, the Lips every where touching one another for the most part, and end in their lower part with an obtuse Angle, as being almost of a Triangular Figure; resembling somewhat in colour that part of the Cock's Comb, that hangs under his Throat.

XXVIII. They are of a ruddy Sub∣stance,* 1.733 partly fleshie, partly membra∣nous, soft, puffie, clad with a thin Tunicle, different in thickness and bigness, according to the diversity of Age; being generally about a fingers joynt in length, and thin, nor very broad in Virgins till five and twenty years of Age. In those of riper years, especially such as have lain with Man, and born Children, they become thicker and broader; but never descend above half way the Lips. These very seldom grow luxuriant in our Regions; but a∣mong the Egyptians, by the report of Galen, frequently grow out to such a length, that through the shame and trouble which they cause, they are forc'd to make use of Incision.

XXIX. These Nymphs, together* 1.734 with the Lips, besides the little Nerves from the sixth Pair, have very many remarkable Vessels dispers'd through the outer and inner Substance. For they receive Arteries from the Branch of the Inner Iliac (call'd the Privity-Branch) conveighing plenty of Blood in the heat of Lust, which causes 'em to swell. They also send Veins to the Privity-Vein, into which, when the heat of Lust is over, they again empty their collected Blood. Which Veins in Women with Child sometimes swell to that degree, that they resemble those Swellings, call'd Varices.

XXX. The use of the Lips and* 1.735 Nymphs is to close and straiten the Entrance of the Privity; and to pre∣serve the Womb from the Injuries of the External Air.

Concerning the Lips and Nymphs, I* 1.736 observ'd an unusual Accident at Nim∣meghen, in the year 1640. A certain Wo∣man, a Seaman's Wife, together with her Daughter about four and twenty years of Age, and after she had shed a great many Tears, out of her modesty, made her complaint, That her Daugh∣ter was uncapable of Man, and asked me if I could remove the Obstacle. She told me that her Daughter's Privity, presently after she was born, was well shap'd, but being after that put to Nurse, and carelesly look'•…•… after, her Buttocks, Privities, and Parts adjoyning, would be miserably excoriated by the Acrimony of the Urine and Excrement, by which means her Privity clos'd together, lea∣ving only a little hole for the passage of her Urine and Flowers. When I view'd the Part, I found the Lips and the Nymphs were exactly grown together, as if there never had been any passage before. Thereupon thrusting an Iron

Probe in at the hole, I found that the closure was only superficial, but that with∣in there was nothing grown preternatu∣rally together. Sending therefore for Henry Chatborn the Surgeon, I order'd him to make an Incision upon the Iron Probe thrust into the hole, and then to cure up the Wound; which was done in a few days: insomuch that the Maid in three Months after being married to a Husband, there were no farther Com∣plaints of the narrowness of the Privity, and the next year she was deliver'd of a lusty Infant.

XXXI. Between the closing Lips,* 1.737 appears the Rift, or Clift of the Pri∣vity: and the Wings and Lips being separated, the Cleft appears still deep∣er, which the Moderns call the Dike, or the Great Cleft, to distinguish it from the first mention'd. This runs a∣long from the Share bones to the fold∣ing of the Buttocks and the Podex, di∣stant from it about a thumbs breadth, and the more backward it bends, the broader and deeper it is; and forms as it were a hollow Valley, or a hollow Dike, representing the shape of a small Ship, and terminates in the Border of the Ori∣fice of the Uterine Vagina. This same space, which is generally call'd Inter∣f•…•…mineum, and Interforamineum, we have observ'd in hard Labours most terribly dilacerated, and by that means the Cleft or lower part of the Vagina has gap'd to the very Podex, difficultly cur'd in some, and in others, never. Into the middle of the Dike enters the Orifice of the neck of the Womb, or Vagina, or Chanel that receives the Yard. To which, at the upper part adjoyns the urinary Passage, through which the Urine flows out of the Bladder. Which Orifice of the neck of the Womb or Vagina, is sometimes so straitened by Chaps and Fissures, or the Scar of some Exulceration, that never afterwards they are able to lie with their Husbands. Sometimes also after violent Labour be∣ing dilacerated, it closes up altogether, and leaves the woman unperforated, or else with a very small Hole. Of which Bauhinus produces several Examples, Anat. l. 1. c. 39. And Cabrolius in his Observ. 23. relates the Stoppage of this Orifice in a Chirurgeon, and how it was open'd again by a Chirurgeon.

XXXII. Now a little higher in the* 1.738 middle part between the Wings, there juts out a small Particle called in Greek 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Clitoris, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, or 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, to wantonize and lasciviously to handle a Womans Privities. Avicen calls it Albathara, or a Twigg. By Albucasis it is called Tentigo. For it answers the Virile Twig, or Rod, in Shape, Situation, Substance, Repletion with Spirits and Erection, differing only in bigness and length.

XXXIII. It is a small round Body* 1.739 consisting of two nervous Portions black within and spungy, rising on both sides from the Excrescence of the Huckle-Bone, as from two Thighs meeting together at the Conjunction of the Share-Bone. Which Beginnings, or Thighs Riolanus calls the white Li∣gaments.

To these Thighs the round Liga∣ments of the Womb reach with their Ends, which formerly being led astray by Spigelius, I took to be the Vessels conveighing the Seed.

XXXIV. The Extremity or Nut* 1.740 of the Clitoris, is called Tentigo, having a Substance like that of the Nut of a Mans Yard, which is co∣vered with a certain thin Skin, like the Praeputium, proceeding from the Conjunction of the Wings. At the top there appears a long hole like the hole of a Mans Yard, but not pervi∣ous or bor'd quite through.

XXXV. The Clitoris like a Mans* 1.741 Yard, has four Muscles serving for the same Office, two round above ari∣sing from the Hip-Bone; and two be∣low, broad and fleshy, proceeding from the Sphincter of the Podex, which creeping backward through the Lips of the Privity, are fasten'd to the Clitoris. The use of which Reg∣ner de Graef believes to be not so much for the Erection of the Clitoris as for the Contraction of the Orifice of the Uterine Vagina. Pinaeus acknowledges only three Muscles.

XXXVI. It receives Arteries from* 1.742 the Privitie-Arteries, which in the heat of Concupiscence and Coition, bring spirituous Blood in great Quan∣tity, which afterwards the privity Veins carry back to the greater Veins. Besides these Regner de Graef has observ'd such like Vessels to reach from the Haemmorrhoidals to the Clitoris. Now these Vessels are communicated to the Clitoris, where the two meeting they constitute its third body, whose Sub∣stance

they enter only with small little Branches, and together with the Ani∣mal Spirit flowing through the Nerves, cause it to swell in the height of Concu∣piscence. The same Regner de Graef observes that the Veins of the right and left side for the most part are clos'd to∣gether by Anastomoses, before they de∣scend to the sides of the Clitoris, and run forward to the Net resembling Fold and other parts of the Pudendum; but that in the Arteries of each side Anasto∣moses are rarely to be found.

XXXVII. Besides the Vasa San∣guifera,* 1.743 there is also a small Nerve, proceeding from the sixth Pair, which endues it with an exquisite Sense of Feeling, and occasions that pleasing Titillation in the act of Venerie, so that the chiefest Seat of Womens Plea∣sure in Coition is in this part. VVhence by Bauhinus it's call'd the Sting of Venus; by Columbus and others the Sweetness of Love. Nevertheless the most charming and voluptuous Titillation lies in the rubbing of the Tentigo or Nut.

XXXVIII. Very rarely, or hardly* 1.744 ever do we hear of what Bauhinus has observed concerning a Clitoris, that it became bony in a Venetian Curte∣san; which by reason of its extream Hardness did so offend and hurt her Lo∣vers in Coition, that many times by reason of Inflammations they were for∣ced to fly to the Surgeon for Help.

XXXIX. A little below the Clito∣ris,* 1.745 above the Mouth of the Uterine Vagina, between the Nymphae, the exit of the Urinary Passage is Con∣spicuous; which being somewhat pro∣minent, and composing the superior Caruncle, is the Extremity of the Sphincter of the Bladder, by means of which Sphincter, after the Urine evacu∣ated, the Orifice of the bladder is again drawn together and closed up.

XL. The neck of the Bladder in* 1.746 grown Women is the breadth of two Fingers in length, wrapt about by the Sphincter Muscle, which enfolds the whole length of it.

XLI. But the neck it self consists* 1.747 within of a thin Membrane, which the Membranous Substance girdles round, being as it were glandulous, whitish, and about the length of one Finger thick, and full of Pores, especially near the Exit of the Urinary Passage, through which several larger Chanels running, terminate near the Exit of the Urinary Passage, and in the fore∣part of the Uterine Vagina. Some there are who think that the virious, se∣rous, and flegmatick Humours that day∣ly flow from many women, are evacu∣ated through these Chanels; but Reg∣ner de Graef, a most accurate Anato∣mist, not without good Reason ascri∣bing to that thicker Substance encompas∣sing the Urethra the use of the Prostates, believes that there is bred therein a kind of seminal and somewhat slimy Juice, endued with a certain Acrimony and Saltness, which causes Desire, and makes women Salacious, and breaking forth through those little Chanels and Pores, renders the Privities delightfully Slippe∣ry in Coition. The same Regner de Graef, who believes that viscous Matter coming from the Yard in the Gonorrhea, to be seldom evacuated from the Stones or seminal Vessels, but most frequently from the Stones, believes also that in women troubled with the Gonorrhea, the same matter is evacuated out of these Parts alone, which he calls Prostates, and confirms it by this Example. Now that the Gonorrhea, says he, slows from the Glandulous Body, and through the little Sewers in and about the Urinary Passage, the Dissection of a certain Wo∣man infected with this Disease made ma∣nifest, for her Womb and Vagina being untouch'd, we found only the Glandulous Body or Prostates to be faulty.

XLII. But the said Orifice or neck* 1.748 of the Bladder, by reason of the soft∣ness of the Substance, may easily be dilated, for Stones of an indifferent bigness to be expell'd and brought a∣way by the great quantity of Urine rushing out at the same time with lit∣tle or no Trouble; or so that the same Stones, Dilatation being first made by the help of Instruments, may be drawn out of the bladder without any Incision, as we find it many times successfully done by your Lithotomists.

XLIII. The Clitoris is usually but* 1.749 small, and lies hid under the Nymphs in the middle fatter part of the Pri∣vities, or in the top of the larger Cleft: Afterwards in grown People it grows somewhat prominent, and when it swells it stirs up Concupi∣scence.

Riolanus well observes that in living People, where all things swell with

Heat and Spirit, this Part is manifestly to be seen, especially in the more Lasci∣vious, that have more voluptuously addicted themselves to Copulation; but that in dead women it hardly appears, by reason of the smallness of its bulk, that falls upon the Dissipation of the Spirits. And yet we publicly shew'd it at the Theater in the dissected body of one not above twenty four Years of Age.

XLIV. Sometimes it happens, that* 1.750 contrary to the common Course of Nature, this part grows out much more in length like the Yard of a Man, so that Women have made an ill use of it, by copulating with others of their own Sex, hence called Con∣fricatrices, but anciently Tribades. Thus Platerus asserts that he saw a wo∣mans Clitoris, equalling in length and thickness the Neck of a Goose. Riola∣nus and Schenkius have observed it as long as a Mans little Finger. Regner de Graef saw a Girl new Born, whose Cli∣toris had such a Resemblance to a Mans Yard, that the Midwife and the rest of the women there present, took it for a Boy; and gave it a Mans Name in Baptism. Plempius writes of one Hele∣na, that lay with several Women and vitiated several Virgins with that Part. I my self in a certain woman at Mont∣fort saw a Clitoris as long and thick as the ordinary Yard of a Man, which happened to grow to that extent, after she had lain in three or four times.

XLV. This is that part which in* 1.751 Hermaphrodites thus prodigiously en∣creasing forms the Virile Member, which appears from hence, that in the slit of the Nut there is no conspicuous Perforation to be seen; tho' the Stones seem to joyn to it at the sides without. Such an Hermaphrodite I remember I once saw in France near Anjou about 28 Years of Age; who was bearded about the Mouth like a Man, yet went in womens Apparel, and for a small mat∣ter turn'd up her Coats to any one that had a mind to satisfy Curiosity. In this Party, the Clitoris at the upper end of the Privity, was grown out of the Pri∣vity about half a Fingers length, and as thick as a Mans Yard, with a Nut, Bri∣dle, and Foreskin, as in Men; only that the Slit of the Nut was not perforated. Such another English Hermaphrodite, about 22 Years of Age, in the Year 1668, we saw at Utretcht, whose Gover∣nour reported that he was born a perfect Girl, but that when she came to be about five or six Years of Age, her Genitals began to be changed, and by that time she came to be ten Years old, her Yard became conspicuous. We saw the Yard hanging forth about half a Finger long, but the Slit of the Nut was not persora∣ted, otherwise not unlike a Mans Yard, the Praeputium of which was form'd by the Closure of the Nymphs: which half covered and uncovered the Nut as in Men. And this Yard would upon ve∣nereal and lascivious Thoughts erect it self a Fingers length, as his Governour reported. In each of the Lips of the Privity, as in so many Cods, one Stone was contained. A little below the Cli∣toris, was the urinary Passage, and the Sheath of the Womb. His Governour related that he had his monthly Cour∣ses at set times like other women; and in height of Lust the Seed would flow forth: but that the Hermaphrodite him∣self could not tell whether it flow'd through his Yard, or from his Female Privities. His Duggs, that were but small, and his hairy Breast and Thighs, seem'd to denote something Masculine, as also his Voice and his Hair, which was very thick and curling, with the Beard apparently beginning to shoot forth upon his Lips. At first he wore womans Apparel, but the next Year, when I saw him again at my own House, by reason his Beard grew so notorious, he altered his Habit, and put on Mans Apparel. From whence it appears that these Hermaphrodites, are not such as partake of both Sexes, but are really women, whose Genitals are not right∣ly form'd, while the Stones fall down into the Lips of the Privity, and the Clitoris grows out to an extraordinary Length.

XLVI. Here arises a very weighty* 1.752 Question, whether your Confricatrices and Hermaphrodites, lying with other wo∣men, spend any Seed through their Cli∣toral Yard, and eject it into the Womb? I must confess I was once so much for the Affirmative, that I maintained it in the first Edition of my Anatomy: think∣ing it might be confirm'd by Reason and Experience. By Reason: Because I thought it no more a Wonder for the Seed to pass the invisible Pores of the Slit of the Clitoris, than in Men for it to pass from the Stones to the Urinary Vesicles, through the invisible Pores of the Vasa deferentia. Add to this, that those female Rubbers do not feel less Pleasure in that Coition, than Men in

their Copulation with Emission of Seed. By Experience: Because I my self formerly knew a woman, of no mean Quality, that made her Complaints to me, that when she was young, and feeling the Itch of Lechery, she was wont often to rub her Clitoris with her Finger, and so was wont to provoke her self to spend her Seed with great delight: But in progress of time this ill Custom turn'd to a Distem∣per: So that if her Privity were never so little touch'd either by the Cushion where she •…•…ate, or by her own Drawers when she walk'd, or by any other man∣ner of way, presently her Seed flew from her whether she would or no, nei∣ther was she able to retain it at her own Pleasure; upon which she came to me for Remedy. She told me moreover that she could certainly feel her Clitoris swell and itch upon the least wanton Thought, and that she certainly believ'd, that the Seed which was provok'd by the rubbing of her Finger flew out from that part, meaning her Clitoris.

Here comes in a remarkable Story, related by Iacob Duval Tract. de Her∣maph. with the whole Proceedings of the Court upon the Tryal: Where among other things he reports, that a certain Widow woman, who had two Sons li∣ving, by her deceased Husband, and was married the second time, through Ignorance, to a Hermaphrodite, confes∣sed that the said Hermaphrodite one Night entered her Body four times, and so strenuously and naturally did her busi∣ness, that she never lay with her Husband with more Pleasure. Which Reasons and Examples seem'd formerly to me to prove that your female Rubbers and Hermaphrodites lying with other women, eject their Seed out of the Clitoris, as Men out of the Yard. But because in this Age Anatomy grows still to more and more Perfection, through the great Diligence and Labour of many eminent Persons, hence it came to pass that by frequent Examination and Inspection, I found the round Ligaments of the Womb not to be the ways through which the Seed could be carried to the Clitoris; nor that there was any Ure∣thra, nor any thing like it in the Clitoris; not that any Seed could pass through its Slit, and therefore of necessity it behov'd me to recant my former Opinion; fin∣ding the forementioned Reasons and Examples not sufficient to defend it. For as to that woman that provoked forth a seminal Matter by the rubbing of the Cli∣toris, 'tis very likely that that same vis∣cous Matter flew out of the foresaid Prostates, into the Vagina, as it is frequent with Men to spend upon rubbing their own Yards; and then bursting forth of the Mouth of the Sheath, moisten'd the Clitoris, which deceiv'd the woman and made her think that the Seed flew out of the Clitoris. The same is to be said of other female Rubbers exercising other women, as also of Duvals Hermaphro∣dite, whose wife thought he had spent into her body through his extended Clitoris. VVhich Error proceeded from hence, that while her Husband rubbed the sheath of her womb with his Clito∣ral Yard, the viscous Matter being pro∣voked out of her Prostates by the Plea∣sure of Frication, flew out into her Va∣gina, with which Pleasure the woman being ravished and deceiv'd, thought it had proceeded from the Seed ejected into her womb by the Hermaphrodite. But all these things being more seriously considered, most certain it is, that no Seed of women is evacuated through the Clitoris.

XLVII. Thus having describ'd all* 1.753 the Parts of Women serving for Ge∣neration; here are two Questions to be answered. First, Whether the Ge∣nitals of Women differ from those of Men but only in Situation. Second∣ly, Whether a Woman may be changed into a Man.

XLVIII. As to the first, Galen* 1.754 seem to demonstrate and teach it, in his Book de usu Part. with whom many both Grecians and Arabians take part, who unanimously affirm that the Genitals of Women differ on∣ly in Situation: The one by reason of the colder temper of Women and weakness of Nature being conceal'd within, the other by reason of the ex∣traordinrry Heat and Strength of Na∣ture, being thrust forth of the Body. For that if the womb should be thrust forth, it would hang with the inside turn'd the outside, and the external smooth and equal part would become the innermost, and the inner rugged and unequal side would become outermost, and so form a Cod, and the Stones that cleave to the sides within the Abdomen, would be contained in that innermost Scrotum, which Scrotum were to be di∣stinguished with a Seam in the middle, as the womb is distinguished within, to which the Clitoris being remov'd would form a Yard above it. Or if the Mans Cod should be forc'd toward the inner

Parts, then it must have the form of the womb within the Abdomen; and the Stones contain'd therein must cleave to the sides on each side, and the Yard drawn in, must be hid like the Cli∣toris.

XLIX. But tho' this most ingenious* 1.755 Contrivance be adorn'd with some pro∣bability, yet certain it is, that the Genital Parts of both Sexes, tho' they seem in some things to resemble one another, but only in Situation, never∣theless they differ very much in many things.

For 1. in women, the Arteries and Veins are much shorter, and more twisted than in men. 2. They want the Pyra∣midal Body form'd out of the Veins and Arteries, before their entrance into the Stones. 3. Secondly they want the Pa∣rastates and Seminal Vessels. 4. Their Prostates are of a different shape from those of men. 5. The Tubes are wanting in men; and the Vasa Deferentia are of another sort than those in women. 6. The Testicles differ in bigness and shape; being much less, more moist, and lither in women than in men. 7. The Substance of mens Stones consists of Seminary Vessels (with some few Vasa Sanguifera) interwomen one within another; but the Stones of women con∣sist of Membranes, Vessels, Cups, Vesicles, and other Bodies. 8. The Clitoris dif∣fers very much from the man's Yard in length and thickness; neither is it per∣forated with any conspicuous hole like the Yard. 9. There is no Urethra in the Clitoris. 10. The Scrotum differs ex∣treamly from the Substance of the womb, as being that which in the womb is thick, compacted and nervous, and in women with child grows to the thickness of two fingers: in the Cod the skin is soft, wrinkled, and never increases in thick∣ness. 11. In Brutes, who have a horn∣ed womb, it is apparent, that the womb turn'd inside outside, will not form a Scrotum, tho' their Males have a Scro∣tum like the Scrotum of men: in their Females nothing like a Clitoris or a Yard was ever yet discover'd: or if the Scrotum should be turn'd to the inner parts, could the Yard supply the place of a Clitoris, seeing that in a Dog, a Wolf, a Fox, and several other Creatures, the Yard is inwardly bony. So that if it were true, that the Genitals in men differ'd only in Situation, the same also would happen in Brutes; which, as is obvious to any man, neither is nor can be. When it is apparent that the secret Parts of men and women differ not only in Situation, but in Substance, Bigness, and Use.

L. As to the latter, Whether wo∣men* 1.756 may be chang'd into Men, Expe∣rience seems to confirm it as a thing most certain, and the Authority of Histories: For there are several Stories of Women chang'd into Men. Pliny writes, that in the Consulship of Licinius Crassus, and Cassius Longinus, there was a Child born at Cassinum of a Virgin, which by the command of the South∣sayers, was carried into a Desart Island. He also relates what Mutianus asserts, That he saw a Maid at Argos, who after she was married, became so much a Man, with Beard and all other Virile parts, that she afterwards married a Wife: and that of the same sort he saw a little Boy at Smyrna. Pliny adds, That he saw in Africa, L. Cossicius, a Citizen of Trisidis, now Tensert, who being a Female, and married, upon the very Wedding-day was changed into a Male. Among our Modern Authors Cardinal Volaterran under Alexander VI. attests that he saw a Virgin, who had a Yard that fell down upon her Nuptial day. Pontanus tells us of a Woman of Cajeta, a Fisherman's Wife, that became a Man, after she had been fourteen years a Wo∣man: and the same thing happen'd to E∣milia the Wife of Antony Spensa, a Citi∣zen of Eboli in the Kingdom of Naples; ten years after she was married. With several other Examples brought, Duval, Merula, Donatus, and others, which seem to confirm the Affirmative part.

But if we consider the thing more narrowly, it is sufficiently apparent that all Historians that wrote those Stories, gave too much credit to Vulgar Re∣port, without inquiring as they ought to have done, into the truth of the Mat∣ter.

LI.

• 1. We read that it has so fall'n* 1.757 out, that some Males, tho' very rare∣ly, have had their Yards that have lain latent within the Abdomen; as we our selves have seen the Stones lye hid in the Groyns more than once; and hence the Midwives and Women find∣ing the Yard as it were laid up in a Cleft, took the Infant that was born to be a Girl, and took care that it should be baptiz'd as a Girl: but after∣wards Youth and Puberty coming on, the latent Pintle swelling in the heat of Lust, broke loose from its narrow Consinement. But such Men were not

• Women before, tho' so adjudg'd by ig∣norant Women, and Men altogether as idle, till their Genitals making way in the heat and fury of libidinous desires, they were thought to be chang'd out of Women into Men; and such were all the Accidents mention'd in Pliny and Volaterrane, in which Examples there is no more to be observ'd, but that the Yard broke forth upon the Nuptial day, when loose Desires and amorous Flames had warm'd and heated all the Bo∣dy.
• 2. As we have already observ'd, in some Women of full Age, the Clitoris sometimes grows to the bigness of a Man's Yard, insomuch that they are a∣ble to lye with others of their own Sex; and when that happens, what wonder is it if the ignorant Vulgar perswade them∣selves that such Women are changed in∣to Men: and such as these seem to be the Accidents related by Pontanus.
• 3. Many times it happens, especially among Persons of great Quality, that the Mothers apprehensive of some danger, either from Enemies, or loss of Inheri∣tance, warily and prudently conceal the Male Sex, dissemble a Boy to be a Girl, and to that purpose all the time of their Childhood, put the Boy into Girls ap∣parel: but at length the Sons contemning their Female habit, have put on Man's clothes, which might cause a report a∣mong the Vulgar, that the Girls were chang'd into Boys. Thus in the time of Ferdinand the first King of Naples, Ca∣rola and Francisca, the two Daughters of Lewis Guerna, were said to have chang'd Sex at fifteen years of Age. I should rather have said, had chang'd their Apparel: For no question, but to conceal their Sex, so long they went in Womens Apparel, which at fifteen years of Age they threw off; fearing otherwise to be betray'd by their Voices, and the budding forth of their Beards, what∣ever Fulgosus invents to the contra∣ry.
• 4. Sometimes it happens that some are born Hermaphrodites, and because it is counted an abominable thing to partake of both Sexes, their Mothers make it their business to hide that defect from their very Cradles, and to bring up such Children in Womens habit; but then, if at any time appinted their Beards be∣gin to grow, they are forc'd to change their habit: and so are said to be chang'd from Men to Women.
• 5. Sometimes it happens through an extraordinary change of Temper that some Women come to have Beards and deep Voices, which is the reason the Common People think 'em to be chang'd out of Women into Men. Thus Hip∣pocrates l. 6. tells us of two Women, Phaetusa, the Wife of Pythias, and La∣rissa the Wife of Gorippus, who by rea∣son of the suppression of their monthly Flowers, became deep voiced, and beard∣ed like Men.

LII. And thus most certain it is,* 1.758 that never any Woman chang'd her Sex, or can change it; but that what∣ever Historians have written concern∣ing these Metamorphoses, are all idle and ridiculous Fables: while they, be∣ing over-credulous, were deceiv'd by Vulgar report, and not examining the Truth, as they ought to have done, contrary to what they intended, ob∣truded Falsities upon their Rea∣ders.

Lastly, we shall add this, That if Women at any time were ever chang'd into Men, without doubt Men were sometimes chang'd into Women. Which nevertheless was never heard of: and the reason is, Because the Yard being hid up in a Chink resembling the Female Cleft, may swell and break forth in the heat of Youth; and so the Person thought to be a woman, becomes chang'd into a Man: but being once pendant without, can never be drawn back, to form a Woman's Privity.

CHAP. XXVII. Of the Constitution and Frame of the Female Genital Parts in Women with Child.

THo' the Generative Parts of Wo∣men are so constituted as we have describ'd, yet of necessity there is some∣thing more to be added, how they are alter'd in Women with Child, and to shew the difference between empty Wo∣men and Women with Child.

I. The Womb in empty Women is* 1.759 about the bigness of a Wallnut, or a good Pigeons Egg; of a fleshie, ner∣vous, solid, and somewhat hard Sub∣stance, the Concavity within being ve∣ry small; which Form and Constitution it still retains in the beginning of Con∣ception,

when first it clasps it self about the Seed retain'd.

II. The Birth encreasing, this Sub∣stance* 1.760 becomes more soft and spungy; and by degrees, as the birth grows bigger, so the Substance enlarges it self, and the Womb grows thicker. And so the Birth and its Habitation encreases together to that degree, so that at length about the upper part of the bottom, it comes to be as thick as a Man's thumb, or the breadth of two fingers.

III. By that time a Woman is half* 1.761 gone, the Breasts begin to swell, and the Teats being squeez'd, the Milk comes forth at first more watery, after∣wards thicker. At the same time the place above the Paps enlarges circularly, and the Teats before contracted grow more loose and tumid; the Lips also of the Privity swell out fuller and round∣er.

IV. The Orifice of the Womb with∣in* 1.762 is clos'd up, and so continues exactly clos'd all the time the woman goes with child, being damm'd up with a kind of viscous Slime; so that nothing can flow out of the womb, nor any thing be admitted into it: unless by chance, in a very lustful Copulation, happening to gape somewhat wider than ordinary, it receives the Male Seed, which occasions a Superfoetation. The same Orifice in the first Months of Child∣bearing, is hard, but afterwards hard and pulpous.

V. The womb increasing in bigness,* 1.763 the small Guts separate themselves to the sides of it: If the Birth incline more to the right side, the Guts are driven to the left side, and so quite the contrary: and hence it is that women believe they have Twins. At the same time the Caul is forc'd up∣ward; concerning which Riolanus ob∣serves, that if it wrap it self about the Stomach, the woman has no Appetite to her Victuals all the time.

VI. The Stones, which in empty* 1.764 women are rounder and looser, and rest upon the upper part of the womb, in women with child, by reason of the enlargement of the womb, seem to descend; and first to rest upon the middlemost, afterwards upon the low∣ermost sides of the womb. More∣over, after the sixth Month, they be∣came more contracted, flatter, and some∣what long; and the Spermatic Veins are much bigger than the Arteries.

VII. The Neck is drawn upward,* 1.765 longer, but narrower: And two Months before the Birth, the inner* 1.766 Orifice of the womb becomes more loose and tumid, and by degrees di∣lates it self as the woman grows nearer her time, unfolding it self like a Rose; as if Nature were preparing a way for the Birth to grow forth; in which work she is not a little assisted by the weight and strong motion of the strugling In∣fant.

In the last Month the Lips of the Pri∣vity become more soft and more tumid: and the neck or sheath of the womb, be∣ing press'd by the weight of the Infant, is so shorten'd, that the mouth of the womb may be easily felt by immission of the finger.

In the last two or three weeks before the woman's time, the foresaid Orifice of the womb is moisten'd with a certain glutinous and viscous Humour, to ren∣der it more loose, and apt to gape, and be dilated without violence, and give the freer passage to the Infant in going forth.* 1.767

VIII. From the Stones to the Tubes, the bottom of the womb, and neck, the Vessels are bigger, and more appa∣rent than usual. For Cornelius Gem∣ma observes, that Vessels of the womb it self are more distended and tumid after many Labours. But that seems too hyperbolical which Bartholine writes, that the Vessels of the womb in time of Child-bearing, swell with Blood to that degree, especially near the time of De∣livery, that the Emulgents are half as large as the Aorta or Vena cava. I have seen 'em very large indeed, but never so large. But perhaps he wrote this upon the Dissection of some Female Elephant. And yet Regner de Graef confirms the same thing: In women with child, says he, I have sometimes seen those Vessels di∣lated to that degree, that I could easily thrust my finger into their hollowness; which after the Evacuation of the Secundines, are so contracted again, that in sixteen days space, together with the womb, they reco∣ver* 1.768 their wonted proportion; only that they are more t•…•…isted and contorted in those that have had many Children, by reason of their being extended more in length.

IX. The reason why the Vasa San∣guifera are so much dilated in women

with child, is said to be the necessity of a greater quantity of Blood, requisite in that place for the Nourishment of the Infant. But in regard the forcing of the Blood through the Arteries, is swift enough for the Nourishment of all the Parts, and that without any extraor∣dinary dilatation of the Vessels, and for the same reason sufficient for the Nou∣rishment of the Birth in the womb; therefore there seems to be another quite different Reason of this dilatation: that is to say, Because that through the increa∣sing of the Substance of the Womb, and the weighty bulk of the growing Infant, the Veins of the womb being more than u∣sually compress'd, will not permit so free a Circulation of the Blood as in empty or free Women. And seeing that more flows in through the Arteries, than can pass through the compress'd Veins, and be remitted back time enough to the heart, hence it is that the Blood, by reason of its slower Circulation, which in the mean time is forc'd through the Arteries with an equal Chanel, being there de∣tain'd and collected together in greater quantity, more and more distends the Sanguiferous Vessels, so that toward the time of Delivery they are more than usually large. Which nevertheless, after Delivery, the said Compression ceasing, and the Circulation becoming free, with∣in a few days are contracted by the Fi∣bres themselves, and return to their first Condition.

In like manner the same thick Sub∣stance of the womb, no less than the Ves∣sels, presently after Delivery, and the Evacuation of the Secundines, begins to fall and dry up, so that in a few days it recovers its pristine solidity and hardness; and this sometimes in six or seven, some∣times in fourteen, or more days.

All which things the accurate inspe∣ction of many Child-bearing women, and women with child hath taught us.

CHAP. XXVIII. Of the Seed.

HAving examin'd the Parts of Ge∣neration, Order requires that we should proceed to the History of the Birth contain'd in the womb. Which before we begin, we shall premise some things concerning the first Foundations and Principles of the Birth: Beginning first with Human Seed; and discoursing in the next of the Conception, and the Form∣ing of the Birth.

I. The Seed is sometimes call'd* 1.769 Sperm, sometimes Geniture. And tho' Aristotle seems to make some di∣stinction between Sperm and Ge∣niture, as if the one were the Seed of those that copulate, the other of those that never engender; and tho' others take Geniture for that Seed only which may properly be call▪d fruitful; others for the Seed of man and woman mixt together: Nevertheless, because the same Philosopher confounds these Names up and down in other places, as also Galen, and many others do, we also intend to make use of these Names for one and the same thing.

But because in Generation there are two Seeds that come to be consider'd, of which neither can produce any thing a∣part; but which being duly mixt toge∣ther to perfect Generation, I think it will be most beneficial to discourse first of the Seed of man, and then of the Seed of woman apart, and of what proceeds from the mixture of both.

II. The Seed of man therefore is a* 1.770 frothy, white, viscous Liquor, im∣pregnated with a germinating or blos∣soming spirit, made in the Stones and other Spermatic Vessels of Arterious Blood and Animal Spirits, for the Generation of a like Creature.

We think that Opinion to be rejected as unworthy refutation, maintain'd by Aristotle, and asserted by his Followers, that the Seed is an Excrement of the third Concoction, when as it is the most noble Substance of the whole Body, as it were a Compendium of the whole Man; or at least such a Substance as contai•…•…s in it self the Compendium of all Man∣kind.

In what Parts it is generated, we have sufficiently explain'd Cap. 22. and Cap. 24.

III. Of the Matter of which Seed,* 1.771 is generated, and the Parts out of which that matter proceeds, various are the Opinions of Philosophers.* 1.772

IV. Avicen says, That the Seed proceeds from the Brain, Heart, and Liver. Some think it falls from the more solid Parts into the lesser Veins,

and from those ascends into the greater, and like a little Cloud or Settlement, swims upon the rest of the Humours, and at length is attracted by the power of the Stones. The reasons of which Opinions, and their Refutations, may be seen in Aristotle, Fernelius, Laurentius, and Vallesius.

V. Many of the Ancients likewise* 1.773 have asserted that the Seed is made of a certain Iuice that falls from the Brain and Marrow of the Back-bone. Thus writes Hippocrates l. de Gen. that the Seed is diffus'd out of the Brain into the Loyns and Marrow of the Back-bone. Thus also writes Plato in Timaeus, That the Seed is a Deflux of the Marrow of the Back-bone; and Al•…•…maeon, that it is a Portion of the Brain.

VI. The more Modern Authors,* 1.774 who could find no such large Convey∣ances from the Brain and Spinal Mar∣row to the Stones, rejected the foresaid Opinion altogether, and asserted the Blood to be generated out of the Blood flowing through the Spermatical Vessels to the Stones. Which Opinion, as most true and indubitable, for many A∣ges has been receiv'd and taught by all the Philosophers.

VII. But of late Glisson, Wharton,* 1.775 and Charleton, English Physicians, have oppos'd this receiv'd Opinion, who write that the Matter of the Seed is a more crude and chylous Humour, carried from the Mesentery to the Brain, and thence to the Stones through the Nerves, of which they say there are a vast number inserted into the Testi∣cles and Epididymis: which is con∣trary however to all Experience; when our own Eyes tell us, tha•…•… only very few, and those very small, and scarce visible, Nerves reach to those Parts.

VIII. Clement Niloe produces a∣nother* 1.776 Opinion, affirming the Seed to be generated out of the Lymphatic Liquor. But in regard the Lympha never flows to the Stones out of any o∣ther Parts, but while the Seed is making, is separated out of that Seminal Matter, and out of the Testicles themselves through the Lymphatic Vessels that take their rise within the Testicles, ascends to the Abdomen, and so to the Vasa Sangui∣fera, it is apparent that the Seed is not made out of the Lympha; but that the Lympha is only occasion'd by the making of the Seed; as it is also an Effect of the making of bilious Ferment, Cap. 13, 14. Moreover, if the Lympha should be car∣ried to the Testicles, as it is not, and in them should be mix'd with the Mat∣ter that is to be chang'd into Seed, then it would not hold proportion with the Matter so to be chang'd into Seed, but only with the Ferment preparing the Matter, that it may be conveninently turn'd into Seed. So that Niloe does not seem to have observ'd the Motion of the Stones upward, nor to have understood the use of it, Cap. 13. & 17.

IX. Hieronymus Barbatus of Pa∣dua,* 1.777 seems not to recede far from this Opinion, who Lib. de Sang. & Sero. writes that the Seed is not generated out of the Seed, but out of the Serum. Which Opinion he endeavours to sup∣port with many, but such insipid Rea∣sons, as are not worth Refutation. But none of these, either Modern or Ancient Opinions, have hit the Mark. But he who considers more seriously the Prolific Liquor, will certainly find, that to the making of the Seed there concurs for Matter, partly Blood, flowing through* 1.778 the Spermatic Arteries; partly Animal Spirits brought through the Nerves.

X. That the Blood constitutes the* 1.779 first Mass of the Seed, is apparent from the large Spermatic Arteries car∣ried to the Stones, which carry more Blood than only serves for the Nourish∣ment of the Stones. The same is con∣firm'd by the Spermatic Veins, carrying back to the Vena Cava the Blood that remains after the Nourishment of the Stones, and making of the Seed. The same is also taught by Experience, when upon immoderate Copulation, we shall find the Blood to be ejected in∣stead of Seed, not without some kind of Titillation; as Aristotle himself ac∣knowledges, and the observation of se∣veral Physicians testifies, by reason that the Blood flowing in great quantity through the Arteries, has not sufficient time to stay in the Stones, nor Animal Spirit pour'd out of the Nerves strong and plentiful enough, that the Blood could be converted into Seed in so short a space. Add to this that in the Stones themselves, and other Spermatic Vessels weaken'd by immoderate Copulation, and the overmuch dissipation of the Spi∣rits, the Seminific power becomes debili∣tated

so far, as not to be able so speedily to convert into Seed the Blood which is brought, being destitute of sufficient Spi∣rit from the Nerves. Which weakness is apparent from hence, that after im∣moderate Copulation the Seed first ge∣nerated is crude and watery. And this Experience Reason supports, which teach∣es us that the Blood concurs in the Seed, as the primary and greatest part of the Matter. For that in our Bodies all things are enliven'd by the Vital Spirit flowing from the Heart; and inherent in the Arterious Blood, and that decaying, no∣thing can be reviv'd: for that if upon any occasion that Blood be stopp'd from flowing into the parts, they presently dye away. Hence of necessity that enliven∣ing Spirit must be infus'd into the Seed, as containing in it self an enlivening Pow∣er, chiefly requisite in the Seed: which Spirit, since it cannot be conferr'd with∣out the Subject to which it is inherent, that is, Arterious Blood, hence it follows undoubtedly, that the Blood concurs to constitute the Matter of the Seed.

XI. Now that the Animal Spirits,* 1.780 brought by the Nerves, and thicken'd in the Stones into a thin Liquor, and mix'd with the Blood, of necessity concurs to the Matter of the Seed, is apparent from hence, that there is a great Correspondence between the Brains and the Testicles, in regard the Brain, the Nerves, and all the nervous Parts are much weaken'd by immoderate Copulation; and in re∣gard that the waste of much Seed, wasts also a great part of the Animal Spirits, attended by lassitude and a manifest impairing of the Strength, to∣gether with sadness and dejection of Mind; there is thereby a disturbance in a Man's Countenance, accompanied with a trembling of the Limbs; all which things declare that the Animal Spirits are plentifully evacuated with the Seed. Which Seed, if it were only made of the Blood, such Symptomes would never attend the Evacuation of a little Seed; for that a whole Pint of Blood taken from a Man, does not weaken him so much as the loss of an Ounce of Seed. To this we may add the Consideration of the Spinal Consumption, thus descri∣bed by Hippocrates, Lib. 2. de Morb. The Spinal Consumption, says he, arises from the Marrow of the Back-bone, and chiefly seizes upon new married and libidinous Brides. Concerning which, if you ask the Patient, he will tell you, that he feels as it were Flies and Emmets creeping along from the upper parts, as the Head, &c. down to the Back-bone. And when he goes to Stool, or makes Water, he voids a great quantity of Liquid Genital Seed; nor can he generate, tho' he lyes with his Wife. He is the Laughing-stock of Venus, and suffers Nocturnal Pollutions as well as at o∣ther times: but especially when he has tra∣vell'd a sleep place, or run hard; he draws his breath short, he loses his strength, his Head akes, and his Ears sound.

By the Description of this Disease, it is sufficiently manifest, that there is a certain Spirit that flows through the Nerves from the Brain and Back-bone to the Composition of the Seed. For hence it is that the Brain, being weaken'd af∣ter immoderate Coition, there happens a Deflux of Spirits not sufficiently con∣cocted, but crude, from the Brain to the Spinal Marrow, whence happens a Col∣liquation, and a flagging and loosness of the Nerves. Hence Nocturnal Polluti∣ons in the sleep, the Spermatic Vessels being weaken'd by immoderate Coition, and having lost their retentive Faculty: besides that that same crude and un∣concocted Spirit flowing through the Nerves, becomes somewhat salt and acri∣monious, and with its Acrimony velli∣cating and tickling the weaken'd Geni∣tals, provokes them to an Effusion of Seed.

XII. Now this Animal Spirit dif∣fus'd* 1.781 through the Nerves from the Brain to the Stones, and there thick∣ned into a thin Liquor, there in that same Contexture of small Vessels, of which the Substance of the Stones con∣sists, is mingled with the spiritous Blood, and by slightly fermenting it with its Acrimony, and separating the Lymphatic Iuice, which is to be car∣ried upward through the Lymphatic Vessels, rising out of the Substance of the Stones, to the inner parts of the Abdomen, by the means of certain small, scarce visible Glandules, di∣spers'd among the small Vessels of the Testicles, specifically dissolves the saltish Particles of it, and separates it from the Redundancy of the Sulphurous Liquor, with which salt Particles, and some few Sulphury, in its long and winding passage through the small Ves∣sels of the Stones, by a specific Facul∣ty of the Stones themselves it is con∣cocted

into Seed, which flows from the Parastates through the Vasa Deferen∣tia into the Seminary Vesicles, where it is condens'd into a frothy Liquor, and is reserv'd till the time of Evacua∣tion. Now because this salt Liquor has the greatest share in the Composition of the Seed, and that its fruitfulness and balsamic Power chiefly proceeds from thence, the Ancients feign'd that Venus sprang out of the Sea, and gave the Ap∣pellation of salacity to Lust.

XIII. Now that the salter Particles* 1.782 of the Blood separated by a certain Effervescency, necessarily, and in great quantity concur in the Composition of the Seed, and far exceed the sulphury Particles, various Arguments assure us.

• First, Because in fat Bodies, where fat and sulphurous Humours predomi∣nate, there is little Seed generated, and hence they have little proclivity to Ve∣nery.
• 2. Because in drier Bodies, where salt Humours predominate, much Seed is generated, which make 'em more able for the Sports of Venus.
• 3. Because the subacid Seed exhales a kind of smell, which must necessarily pro∣ceed from a dissolv'd Salt.
• 4. Because the increasing of that in quantity excites an itching Titillation, and provoke to Lasciviousness.
• 5. Because the Fertility of most things proceeds from Salt, either melted or dis∣solv'd by heat, and thence it is no won∣der that the foecundity of Human Seed chiefly depends upon it. The first is appa∣rent from many Experiments. Wood∣ashes, especially of Burnt-oak, strew'd over the Fields, renders 'em much more fertile, and that Fertility is more lasting than the spreading of Cow-dung over the same Fields, which only causes a Fertility quick and of short d•…•…rance: Because they contain a greater quantity of Salt, which being melted by the Rain, and attenuated by the heat of the Sun, augments that Fertility of Grass and Herbs. Grounds dung'd with the Dung either of Men, or Pigeons, or Poul∣try, enfertilize those Lands ten times more than either Cow; or Horse dung; because the other contains ten times a greater quan∣tity of balsamic Salt. Rain-water im∣pregnated with much volatile Salt, at∣tenuated by the heat of the Sun, and with the watery Vapours exhal'd and thick∣ned into clouds, causes the Herbs and Plants to flourish and grow to a greater Perfection, than if water'd with other Water. Hence Aristotle writes in his Hist. Animal. l. 8. c. 19. that Reeds which grow in Lakes and Ditches, never thrive so well as when great store of Rain falls. In like manner Fish in their Ponds thrive much better when it rains. The Dew impregnated with a Volatile and Balsa∣mick Salt, produces several sorts of Worms and Insects upon the Trees. In Vinegar expos'd to the Sun, and long kept, we find many times little Worms to breed; concerning which thing, Bar∣tholine gives us a remarkable Observa∣tion, Hist. Anat. cent. 4. hist. 13. who ad∣mires it indeed, but seems not to under∣stand the Reason. Which is plain, be∣cause the whole Acidity of the Vinegar proceeds from the Salt being exactly melted and dissolv'd; which appears from the Spirit of Salt, which is most acid, and for that common Salt being boyl'd with Vinegar, renders it much more a∣cid. Now the thinnest Particles of this melted Salt, attenuated and volatiliz'd by the heat of the Sun, agitate the Par∣ticles of the Vinegar with particular Motions, and so joyning with some af∣ter one, with others after another man∣ner, beget a kind of Fertility which breeds Worms, enliven'd by the Beams of the Sun.

And thus I think we have sufficiently prov'd that there is a very great balsa∣mic power in Salt, and that the foecun∣dity of all things living proceeds from and out of Salt. So that it need not seem a wonder, that more salt Particles should be requisite to compose the Mat∣ter of Seed than sulphury Particles. But I have told you that they are plentifully separated from the Blood by a certain way of Fermentation, caus'd by the Ani∣mal Spirits flowing to the Stones; which Animal Spirit consists of salt, sharp Par∣ticles.

XIV. Now if the Animal Spirits* 1.783 flow through the Nerves in sufficient quantity, and strong enough, to the Stones, and there be concocted into a spiritous Liquor, together with the said spiritous Salt part of the Arterious Blood, or be duly prepar'd and chang'd in the long windings and turnings, the Seed becomes well concocted, spiri∣tuous, and fruitful; which thickning in the Seminary Vessels, in Copulation is ejected white. But if that Spirit flow weak, and in small quantity to the Stones, the Seed then generated be∣comes crude, watery, and not so white▪

the Spirits being dissipated, as it hap∣pens, through immoderate Copulation; and the Spermatic Parts become weak, frigid, and moist; through which ill temper of the Parts, the narrow ends of the little Nerves that lose themselves in the Stones, grow limber, and fall, so that very few Animal Spirits can penetrate to the Stones; and such as pass through are stifled by the extream coldness and moisture of the Stones: and thence it happens that there is no convenient Fermentation in the Blood flowing through the Spermatic Arteries, but the greatest part of it is converted into crude, waterish, and sharp Juice, which being carried to the Seminary Ve∣sicles, and there gather'd together, easily burst forth into the Urethra, especially in Venereal Dreams.

XV. And for the same Reason the viscous Seminal Matter, that uses to settle in the Prostates, is also crude and watery, and by its extraordinary Moisture relaxing the Pores, toward the Urethra in Men, toward the U∣terine Vagina in Women, flows forth without being felt, and unvoluntarily,* 1.784 which causes the Simple Gonorrhea. Which Seminal Matter, if it be in∣fected with any impure Venereal Ma∣lignity, and sharp Corruption, presently happens a Virulent Gonorrhea, which is attended many times by Corrosion and Exulceration. Now this Efflux of Seminal Matter, or Simple Gonorrhea, many times molests the Patient for a long time, even whole years together, with little debilitating the strength; because that spiritous Liquor coming from the Nerves, is mix'd in a small quantity, with such Seed, and very few or no Ani∣mal Spirits waste themselves in its Eva∣cuation; which at other times in libidi∣nous Copulation flow to the obscene Parts in great quantity, and are dissipa∣ted to the great wasting of a mans strength: whereas there is no labour in the sponta∣neous and unfelt Emission of the Seed. Thus Bartholine reports that he saw at Padua, a Person that had been troubled with this Efflux of his Seed for above thirty years, without any prejudice to his health; and another at Bergamo in∣fested with the same Distemper for ten years, in other respects healthful, but only that he was very much emacia∣ted.

XVI. If any Person wonder how* 1.785 such a spiritous Animal Vapour should flow so copiously through such narrow and hardly conspicuous little Nerves, let him consider that the Arteries also, by that time they come to the Stones, are almost invisible, and yet they carry a great deal of Blood. Moreover, let him know that those copious Va∣pours are not carried thither so copious∣ly, by reason of the extream thinness of the little Nerves, only that they de∣scend by degrees to the Stones: And hence after a stout Copulation, and much Emission of Seed, there is requisite some space of time before a sufficient recruit can come for the generation of new Seed.

XVII. But some will say, Those* 1.786 little Nerves seem only to terminate in the Tunicle next wrapt about the Stones, which for that reason is en∣du'd with a quick Sense, but never reach to the innermost Substance of the Stones, which for that reason is insen∣sible, as is apparent from several Di∣stempers, which is a sign that those Spirits cannot flow to the inner Sub∣stance. I answer, That as there are no Nerves, so neither are any Blood-bear∣ing Vessels to be seen in the Stones of healthy People; however, it does not follow from thence, that there are no such Vessels in those Parts, for that they are there, and in whom, and when con∣spicuous, we have declared Cap. 22. So without doubt there are some slender Nerves in those Parts, though not to be perceived by reason of their white Co∣lour and extream Exility. Which Exi∣lity, and the small quanity of Spirits that pass through 'em, may be the reason that the inner Substance of the Stones is so dull of feeling: Besides, that the in∣ner Substance of the Stones is nothing membranous, for there is also an acute Sense in Membranes; and because the Stones, and other Parenchyma's of the Bowels have their proper and peculiar Substance, consisting of Vessels interwo∣ven one among another, the like to which there is not in the whole Body, besides which, by reason of its structure and feeling, is of an obtuse Sense, as the Sub∣stance of the Heart, Lungs, Liver, Spleen, &c. All which Parts, like the Stones, have their exact Sense of feeling, lying only in the Tunicle that enfolds 'em.

XVIII. But here another Difficul∣ty* 1.787 arises, more weighty than the for∣mer, that seeing the animal Spirits are every way disposed of by the Mind, now here, now there, at pleasure, why they are never copiously disposed of to flow into the Testicles, and cause 'em to swell, especially upon lustful Cogi∣tations? I answer, those Spirits are not unequally disposed of to any Parts, but first to those that require some short stretching forth, to the end they may act, or act more vigorously, as the Eyes, when any thing is to be view'd with more attention; the Womb, when the Birth is to be expell'd; the Genitals in Copulation; then and chiefly then they are disposed of to those parts that serve for volun∣tary Motion, as the Muscles. But they flow always equally with a continued Course to the Parts only sensitive, as al∣so to those Parts wherein they contri∣bute any thing to Nourishment or Fer∣mentation, as being an Influx that has nothing common with the Will: And that they flow sometimes in less, some∣times in greater Quantity to those Parts which are sensitive, and so occasion a quicker or a more obtuse Sense of Fee∣ling, that happens not through the de∣termination of the Mind, but by reason of their greater or lesser quantity, or the largeness or narrowness of the Passages. And thus the Animal Spirits flow to the Testicles, not by any determined, but meerly by a natural Motion.

XIX. Now in the Seed thus made* 1.788 of the said Matter, two parts are to be considered: Some subtil, and very spirituous, which are very few, but very effective: Which we now call the Germen or Blossom: Others thick∣er, frothy and watery, which consti∣tute the chiefest part of the Seed, and nourish and involve the spirituous Parts.

XX. Now these spirituous and* 1.789 thicker Parts being mix'd and clot∣ted together compose the Mass of the Seed, containing in themselves a dou∣ble Principle, an Efficient and a Ma∣terial. Which Material is double, the one out of which the first Threads of the Birth are form'd, which is the most spirituous Part, containing the ef∣ficient or forming Principle; the o∣ther Alimentary, being the thicker part of the Seed melted and dissolved.

XXI. If this efficient Principle be* 1.790 not in the Seed, as it happens in un∣fruitful Seed, then when nothing can be form'd out of it, it flows away and is corrupted. But if the effici∣ent Principle ready to break forth in∣to Act, be destitute of the material Principle, by which it ought to be fo∣mented and sustain'd: Then also no∣thing comes of it, as when the Seed, the second or third Day after Injecti∣on, by reason of some suddain Fright, or other Accident, flows out of the womb; and then nothing comes of the Blossom.

But these two Principles being united together, act nothing upon one another but are Idle, so long as the material thicker Principle be curdled together; for this detains the spirituous efficient Principle, as it were intangl'd and lull'd asleep, and so restrains it, that it cannot put it self forth into Action. But when the thicker material Principle is dissolv'd and melted in some convenient Place by the external proper Heat of the womb, then its inbred efficient Spirit by degrees gets rid of those Fetters, is rous'd up and becomes free, and its Power breaks forth into Act, and proceeding through the Uterine Tubes to the Ova∣ries, enfertilizes the Eggs which are there∣in ready prepared and matur'd, and begins to act in them, and in each of them out of it self to delineate and form that which is to be form'd, while the thicker parts of the Seed are mel∣ted and made fit; to receive and gently cherish the Eggs falling out of the Ova∣ries through the Tubes into the Womb. For if the Eggs should fall into a dry womb, they would produce no more than the Seed of a Plant cast into dry Ground. For as nothing comes of that Seed unless sow'd in a Ground moisten'd with a tepid Humidity, so nothing comes of the Egg unless it fall into a womb watered with a convenient lukewarm Moisture.

XXII. Some will say, this cannot* 1.791 be so, for the Eggs of Fowl do not fall into a moist womb, but into a dry Nest, and yet a Chicken is hatch'd out of this Egg. I answer, That as for Birds and other Creatures that lay Eggs, there is not the same Reason for them, neither do they require any such Moisture of the womb, or thicker part of the masculine Seed, but only the Fo∣mentation of Warmth. For being to

hatch Chickens without themselves, pro∣vident Nature has provided for them, within the shells of the Eggs, what was requisite and could not be conferr'd by any thing extrinsic, that is a copious convenient Moisture, wherein the spiri∣tuous part of the male Seed may form out of it self what is to be form'd, and nourish it also with the same, till it comes to the maturity of a Chicken. And therefore it is that the Eggs of Fowl have a Yolk, which is deny'd to all the Eggs of Creatures that bring forth li∣ving Conceptions. In which sort of Creatures it neither is nor could be so. For they being to bring forth large Births, there could not be Nourishment sufficient contained in little Eggs, by which the Birth might be augmented and nourished to such a Bigness. Hence it is of necessity that extensive Nourish∣ment must flow into the Eggs, and come to the Birth; and first the thicker parts of the male Seed already melted, ought gently to receive the new form'd Body and nourish it by Apposition; and then other more copious Nourishment must be conveighed by the Mother to the womb for the Nourishment of the large Birth.

Having thus spoken sufficiently in ge∣neral* 1.792 of the matter of the Seed, now let us a little more accurately consider the spirituous Part.

XXIII. Hippocrates discoursing of* 1.793 the spirituous Part, writes in several Places, that the Seed falls from all Parts, that is to say, that something is generated in every Part, resembling the nature of the Part; which being conveighed from each part to the Stones, and mix'd with the thicker Matter, together with that same thick∣er Matter composes the Seed, con∣taining in it self the Ideas of all and every part.

XXIV. Aristotle ascribes a celesti∣al* 1.794 Nature to this spiritual Part, like the nature of the Stars: For, saith he, there is in the Seed of all Creatures, that which renders the Seed fruitful, and is called Heat, and yet no Fire, nor any such Quality, but a Spirit which is contained in the Seed and frothy Body; as also Nature, that is the Soul, which is in that Spirit, an∣swerable in proportion to the Element of the Stars.* 1.795

XXV. Now that we may inquire more narrowly into the Original and Nature of this spirituous Part of the Seed, we are first to understand, that it is a most subtle Body produced by another Body, having a fitness by the help of external Causes, to produce and form another Body, like to that from which it had its own Modelling. For when this Body has gain'd a pro∣per Matter wherein to subsist, it is to∣gether with that matter deposited in a convenient place, and freed from all In∣cumbrances.

XXVI. That it is a Body is appa∣rent,* 1.796 because it is subject to corporeal Laws, Putrefaction, Corruption, and Change, &c. and is produc'd by a Bo∣dy, and not from a rational Soul; from which if it were produc'd, it could not be corrupted, for that be∣ing incorruptible, must generate some∣thing incorruptible like it self. But that it is corrupted is apparent in the Emission of fruitful Seed, from which no Conception happens; for then no∣thing is generated out of it, but it pe∣rishes, and is corrupted like other cor∣ruptible Substances.

XXVII. That it is produced out of* 1.797 a Body is plain from hence, that it is generated and not created: As also that it is produced out of the Sub∣stance of the Seed, dissolv'd by the ambient Heat and Moisture, loosning the conjoyn'd Mass of the mix'd Bo∣dy, and is nothing else but a thin Vapour fluid and moveable, volati∣liz'd by the Heat. For which reason it would easily fly away unless it were detain'd, as being wrapt about by the thicker Particles of the Seed not so apt for Volatility; and by and by straitly enclosed by the womb and its proper Membranes, and in regard of its salt Particles, of which for the most part it consists, it were somewhat inclin'd to fix∣ation, and so were hindered and stop'd in its Flight.

XXVIII. That it has an Aptitude* 1.798 from the convenient Matter of which it self consists, and wherein it inheres, by the help of external Causes to pro∣duce and form a Body like to that from whence it proceeded, Experience teaches us. But whence that Aptitude proceeds is not altogether so mani∣fest.

XXIX. That the Figures and Forms* 1.799 of Bodies arise from the various Constitution, partly of the forming Cause, partly of the Matter out of which they are compounded, is a thing confessed among the Philosophers. In Generation therefore a just and due Con∣stitution and Disposition of the Matter is required, that the formal Cause may act upon it, and form and generate something out of it. Now the foresaid Spirit rooted in the Seed, containing in it self the forming Form, call'd Nature, both has and perfects that requisite dis∣position of Matter; and that is the first Agent or Principle of the forming of the Birth, and also the first and next Matter of the Parts to be delineated. For there is a certain efficient Spirit in∣fused into all natural Seeds, which ari∣sing out of the thinnest and most vola∣tile salt and sulphury Particles of the Seed it self, concocted after a particular manner by the Heat, and intermixed with the more fixed Particles of the Seed; is the primary cause of Formati∣on, and the primary and next matter of the Body to be form'd, and actuates the other Particles of the Seed, and as it were leads the Dance of natural Moti∣ons, which being coagulated, absent, extinct or suffocated, there can be no Generation. Now if such a Spirit be contain'd in all Seeds, then certainly in the Seed of Man.

XXX. Now a small Particle of* 1.800 this Spirit contains in it self the Ideas of all and singular the Parts of the whole Body, which Parts it is able a∣gain to form out of it self, when by the Assistance of the Uterine Heat, being somewhat loosen'd and freed from the thicker Mass of the Seed, it advances toward the Ovaries, and enters the Eggs, and in them now carried through the Tubes into the Womb, it is agitated, mov'd and rouz'd into Action. For being agi∣tated, it acts, and acting, it cannot do otherwise, than out of that convenient Matter of which it consists it self, and where it is inherent, that is out of it self to form such Parts, of which it contains in it self the Ideas, and so by degrees renders the rest of the Matter of the Egg apt and fit, which giving way to the Growth of those Forms, may be able also to assume their Shape. Which I shall endeavour to illustrate by a Com∣parison. As Coles extinguished, Straw, Turf, Wood, and other Materials, do not take Fire, nor flame out, unless some subtle Matter, having the form of Fire, enter 'em, and raise the first Idea of Fire, which then makes fit the rest of the Matter, that it may be able to as∣sume the like form of Fire: so there is no Creature of the same likeness raised out of the Egg, unless it enter some Egg, which bears the Idea of that same Creature, which making of it self the first delineation of that Creature, at the same time renders the rest of the Matter of that same Egg fit, first to increase its Delineation, and then assume the form of all its Parts. Now this is that same Idea-bearing Spirit ingrafted in the Male Seed, and separated from its thicker Mass by the benefit of the Uterine Heat, and so infused into the Eggs.

XXXI. Now the Seed receives* 1.801 those Ideas from all and every singu∣lar Part; for as from all Bodies in∣finite subtle Beams issue forth, expres∣sing the Figure and external Colour of all those Bodies from whence they flow, so also from every the smallest Particles of the Body, certain most subtil little Bodies issuing from the smallest Particles of the Body, like most spirituous Atoms, are mix'd with the said Spirit flowing from them, which then has the same Impression of the Body from whence it flow'd, and receiv'd the same small forth-flowing Body, that lighting upon the proper Subject to which it is inherent, it may be effectual out of it self to pro∣duce and form a Body like to that from which it received the imprinted Shapes. For those most subtle Bodies flowing either from some Body, or some part of a Body, cannot but have ob∣tain'd a model or fashioning from it, such as are the Shapes of the Things within the Bodies out of which they flow. And so the seminal Spirit obtains some pro∣priety of those Particles of the Body, out of which it flow'd, and that not only of the Figure, but of the whole Nature.

XXXII. But these Proprieties of* 1.802 the singular Particles, are not separa∣ted in that Spirit, but fall and meet together in every Particle of it, and then display themselves again in the Formation; In like manner as a thousand Beams of visible things meet together in one Mirror, and out of

them distinguishes the Figures and Colours of every particular thing. And hence it is that every Particle of this Spirit has a power to form the whole Creature. Which Efficacy however is more powerful, when many Particles are collected together in one Bubble. For as a few visible Beams flowing from a∣ny thing whatever, sufficiently represent the Figure and Colour of it, and yet that Figure and that Colour are more apparently, more accurately, and right∣ly discovered, if many Beams concur to depaint and set it forth, as in Concave Glasses; so also the particular Particles of this Spirit have a power to form the whole, yet is the Fashioning more per∣fect, if many Particles endu'd with the same Power be joyn'd together, and execute their work with united force. Now if the Particles of this Spirit be collected in the Bubbles not of one, but of several Eggs, thence the Generation of several Births, for the forming Spirit has sufficient Power to form the whole in every Bubble. Which is easily ob∣serv'd in Birds. For the Sperm of a Cock, which is injected into the Hen but in a very small Quantity, but full of Spirit, when it lights into the Ovary, is dispersed through all those Eggs which are already come to Maturity; and is the sole Cause of enfertilizing the small Particles in each Egg, and being agitated by the external Heat, and the little quantity of Spirit absconded therein, is the efficient Cause of the Chicken; and also the Matter of the first Delineati∣on.

XXXIII. Now this same Spirit* 1.803 flowing from the several Particles is mixed with the Blood, and is cir∣culated together with it through the whole Body, and gives it an aptness to nourish all the Parts. For if the Blood had not something in it self like to the several Parts, it could not nourish all the Parts, and add some∣thing alike to every individual Par∣ticle. The Particles of this Blood which are changed into Seed, contain al∣so this same Form-bearing Spirit within 'em, which is therefore involv'd within the Seed made in the Stones, and that in* 1.804 a considerable Quantity, and composes its more noble and primary efficient Part, yet such as cannot subsist nor be preserv'd entire without the thicker ma∣terial Part.

XXXIV. Here arises a difficult Question, how those Parts are gene∣rated out of the Seed, of which Parts the Parents were destitute long before Generation, seeing that no Idea, no forming Power, or Architectonic Spi∣rit can flow from them? I answer, that this is done, because the Imaginati∣on of the Parents supplies that Defect, who daily seeing other Infants, Boys, and grown People, born and well sha∣ped with all their Members, firmly imagine with themselves that they shall beget the like. And so no less imprint the Ideas of the defective Parts in the said Spirit, and model both it and the whole Seed no otherwise than if the modelling had proceeded from those Parts. For how far Imagination prevails in this par∣ticular, appears in Women with Child, who by the force of Imagination only forming strange Ideas, frequently add to the Birth not only the strange Figures, Colours, and Spots of the things ima∣gined, but the things themselves accor∣ding to their whole Nature. Thus have some Infants been born with Horns, when the Mother has been so frighted by a horned Beast, that she conceived such a deep impression of that Horn, that has not only disfigured the Child with the Mold or Colour, but with the very Substance of the Horn growing out. I my self in the Year 1637, knew a Wo∣man of thirty Years of Age in Gelder∣land, who kept an Ape with a long Tail, and took great delight in it. This Wo∣man was about a Month gon with Child, at what time the Ape of a sud∣dain leaping upon her Shoulders, strook her over the Face with his Tail: whence the woman conceived such an Idea of the Ape's Tail, and cherished it so strong∣ly in her Imagination, that at length she brought forth a Child with a Tail at the end of that Portion of the Back cal∣led the Coccyx, thinly hair'd and of the same Colour with the Tail of the Ape, which the Surgeons having cut off at the Request of the Parents, the part gan∣gren'd to the loss of the Childs Life. Ex∣perience also teaches us, that if a wo∣man with Child continually and strong∣ly think of the maim'd part of any Man, from which she took a suddain Fright, she brings a maim'd Infant into the World, tho' both she and her Husband had their Limbs perfect and quite the contrary: if she continually think of a perfect and sound Child, she will bring forth a Child perfect in its Limbs, tho' perhaps either she or her Husband might want a Limb. In like manner, a

Man may more easily imprint into the seminal Spirits the Ideas of Parts de∣fective, than the Woman through her Imagination can deface, alter, or de∣prave those parts: And as this is certain of a woman by Experience, the same is still more certain of a Man. Neither is it to be questioned but that if the Pa∣rents think continually and much upon those defective Parts, nor by other Ima∣ginations imprint in the seminal Spirit the Ideas of those defective Parts, they shall beget Children maim'd in those parts. This is apparent from hence in the first part, that if the Parents were born maim'd in any part, when they have not been able afterwards to imagin any Ideas of the entireness of that part, as being that which they never knew perfect in themselves, frequently the Children are maim'd in that part. But if they were maim'd in any Member long after they were born, then easily and strongly imagining the Idea of that part of which they knew the soundness and the use before, they may supply that defect in the Seed and its Spirit.

XXXV. But how the said Idea's* 1.805 are imprinted in the Seed by the Ima∣gination of the Parent is not so easily explain'd. However thus it seems to happen. The Image of the thing of∣ten and seriously thought upon, is ex∣actly delineated in the Brain; and that Picture and its bringing into Shape being imprinted in the Animal Spirits, and by them communicated also to the arterious Blood, together with these, that are to be the matter of the Seed, is carried to the Stones, and in the making of the Seed sup∣plies therein the defect of those Ideas, which could not flow from the parts of which the Parent was destitute, and so the Seed with its enlivening Spirit, furnished with all the necessary Idea's of the several parts of the whole Body, acquires such an Aptitude that all the parts may be form'd out of it, even those Parts of which the Parent is destitute. That this is thus done in the Seed, is no such Wonder, seeing that after the same manner sometimes the Ide∣a's of various things, are imprinted in the Birth already form'd through the strong Imagination of the Mother: Because that the Idea's of things imagined and exactly depainted in the Brain, being imprinted in the Animal Spirits, by the determination of the Spirits made by the Mind, or Will, together with the Arterious Blood flow to the womb, of which, and of the Birth therein contain∣ed the great bellied Woman often thinks; thence they are carried through the umbilical Vein to the Birth it self, which being very tender, by reason of the ex∣traordinary softness of its Body, easily receives the Idea strongly imprinted in∣to it by the Imagination of the Mother, (as an Image seen is imprinted into the soft Brain, to be shortly offered again to the Memory) which is very small at the Beginning, but increases more and more as the Child grows in the womb; as Letters or Pictures slightly engraven with a Penknife upon the Rinds of a Cucumber or Melon, grow by degrees with the Fruit. And thus al∣so the Images of visible things, at a great Distance are depainted in the Tunicle of the Eye, by the help of the Interme∣diate Air, and Sounds are conveighed through the Air to Places remote.

XXXVI. Swammerdam proposing* 1.806 this Doubt to me in his Miracle of Nature, How it comes to pass that Parents maim'd in some Parts, be∣get whole Children, as if he would with one Herculean Argument diluci∣date the whole Obscurity, answers, be∣cause all the parts are contained in the Egg. But if this be the true Cause, how comes it, that out of that one Egg, containing all the Parts, sometimes a Child happens to be born maim'd in some parts; and that sometimes when the Parents are sound and perfect in all their Limbs; and such, as before that, have begot, and afterwards also beget entire limb'd Children. Why should the Foundation of an Arm, or a Legg, or any other part be more wanting, in that Egg, than in the Eggs of other women, both before and afterwards con∣veighed to the womb, out of which en∣tire Childeren have been conceived? If these women's Eggs contain all the parts of the birth in themselves, why does Swammerdam himself say, that Levi, long before he was born, lay in the Loyns of his Parents? Will he have also some Eggs to be generated in the Loyns of Men? 'Tis to be fear'd he will shortly bring 'em, as well out of the Heads as out of the Loyns of Men and the Stones of Women.

XXXVII. Here another Doubt a∣rises;* 1.807 seeing that those spirituous Ir∣radiations equally happen from all parts of the Body, in the Body of a Child, as well as of one grown to Ma∣turity:

Why the Office of Generation may not equally be perform'd as well by a Child as by a Person fully grown: When as the forming Spirit is equal∣ly present in both? I answer, this falls ou•…•… for two Causes. 1. Because that in a Child, that Spirit has not yet a Subject wherein to inhabit. For the Blood be∣ing very Oylie, is consumed in the Growth and nourishment of the Body, so that there is no superfluous blood out of which the seed can be duly made. 2. Because that in a Child there are want∣ing those requisite Mediums to perfect that Work; For besides the extream Oyliness of the Matter, and its unapt∣ness, the spermatic Vessels are over weak to make Seed. In Males, the Yard is too short, and the Passages are too nar∣row to conveigh the Seed out of the Stones to the seminary Vessels, and thence to the Vrethra. In Females the Vessels are two small and straitened, and the womb too narrow to receive the Seed.

XXXVIII. From what has been* 1.808 said, perhaps some one may raise a∣nother Question; seeing that the spiri∣tuous •…•…dea-bearing Irradiations are to be considered only in the Seed of a Man, how it comes to pass that the Birth does not always resemble the Male parent in likeness of Feature and Form, but frequently the Mo∣ther? Hippocrates of old gave sundry Reasons for this, taken from the vari∣ous Quality and Quantity of the Seed of a Man and Woman mix'd together: Whose Opinion many follow, but do not explain it all alike. Among whom are Capivaccius, and Deusingius, whose Opinions, because they are grounded upon no solid Foundations, we shall o∣mit for Brevities Sake. My Opinion is, that all this whole Matter depends upon the Imagination of the Mother. For a bigg-bellied Woman always think∣ing this or that when she is awake, and converting her Thoughts for the most part to the Birth contained in the womb, if she be an admirer of herself, and of the outward Shape and Form of her own Body, the Child will be like her. But if she be a Person that is altogether taken with the Shape and Features of her Husband, and often imprint his Image into her Imagination, the Child will be like the Father. But that this Resem∣blance does not proceed from the Qua∣lity or Quantity of the Seed of the Man and Woman, is hence apparent, for that a bigg-bellied Woman strongly concei∣ving in her Imagination the external Features of any other Man, with whom she never had any Familiarity, the Child shall be like to him: Nay, and many times, by beholding monstrous Forms and Shapes, imprints and stamps 'em many times upon the Births. For wonder∣ful is the Force of Imagination, especially in Bigg-bellied Women; of which Thomas Fienus has written an excellent Tractate.

Thus far concerning the Mans Seed: Now particularly in a few words con∣cerning the Seed of women, the use and necessity of it.

XXXIX. Here presently we meet* 1.809 a Question, at the very Threshold, whether Women have Seed or no?

Aristotle affirms that women have no* 1.810 Seed; but that their Flowers supply the place of the Seed. For which they who follow this same Prince of Philosophers, give these Reasons. 1. Because there is no way through which the Seed can pass from the Stones to the Womb. 2. Because the womans Seed can contribute nothing to Generation; and for that it has been found that Women have many times conceived without being sensible of any Pleasure in Coition; and there∣fore without any emission of Seed. 3. Because the same Accidents do not be∣fall women, at that time that Seed is said to be generated in them, as happen to Men at that age, that is to say, their Voices do not change, their Nerves are not stronger, their Body is not dry'd, neither are they more perfect in the Gifts of the Mind, &c. 4. Because by the Testimony of Harvey, the Testicles of women in the Act of Generation do not swell, nor vary from their wonted Constitution either before or after Coiti∣on: Neither is there any sign or mark of their Use or Necessity either in Coi∣tion or Generation. 5. Because that by reason of the injection of the womans Seed into the womb in bigg-bellied wo∣men, frequent Abortion happens after Copulation. For that Seed must either be corrupted in the womb, and so bring various Mischiefs, and at length Death upon the inclosed Birth; or else it must slip out of the womb, and so the Orifice of the womb being opened, Abortion must follow. And hence they conclude that women have no Seed, and so that their Stones are only given for Orna∣ment, like the Paps of Men.

XL. But this Opinion long sus∣pected,* 1.811 at length has been deservedly re∣jected by most men; it being sufficiently apparent▪ that women have Seed from hence, that they have Stones, sperma∣tic

Arteries, and Veins, and deferent Vessels as Tubes, and Prostates, which Parts not being given 'em in vain, no question serve for the Generation of Seed. Moreover in the Stones themselves the Eggs are conspi∣cuously to be seen, containing a transpa∣rent White, well deserving the Name of Seed, which being matur'd, and bedew'd and impregnated with the male Seed, are conveighed through the deferent Ves∣sels or Tubes▪ and so carried to the womb. Lastly, Women in Coition emit a cer∣tain seminal Matter out of the Prostates with great Pleasure, and after Coition suffer the same Symptomes as happen to Men, sadness, lassitude, conturbation in their Countenances, numness, and cessa∣tion from Desire. Thus both the First and Second Reason of the Aristotelians falls to the Ground. For that the Seed of women included in the Eggs, is alto∣gether necessary for Generation is appa∣rent from hence, that nothing is begot by the Male Seed, unless the Spirituous Part of it, light into the Liquor resem∣bling the white of an Egg, as into the sole Matter proper for its use: And for that women never conceive, that have no Eggs in their Ovaries, as in elderly women; or at least none that are im∣pregnated and carried out of their Ova∣ries to the womb: As neither do they Conceive who never emit with Pleasure any seminal Liquor out of their Prosta∣tes. And therefore there is no Credit to be given to those that cry they were ravished by Force, and conceived without Pleasure. Lastly, Because that among Brutes, Bitches, Sowes, and other female Creatures, being spay'd become Barren, as being depriv'd of the Organs generating Seed-bearing Eggs. To which we may add, that the Holy Scripture makes mention of the Seed of the Woman, as most necessary to Generation. The Third Reason of the Aristotelians is of no Value; For that at the time that Seed is generated, their Voices do not change, nor their Nerves grow stronger, &c. The Reason of that is, because the whole Temperament of their Bo∣dies is much colder and moister than Mens; and therefore the Seed included in their Eggs, is much more crude and moist than the Seed of Man, nor does it diffuse such a hot and sharp Fermenta∣ceous Expiration through the whole Body as a Mans Seed. No less vain is the Fourth Argument, for that the Con∣stitution of the Stones was observed by Harvey not to vary either before or af∣ter Copulation, that was so imagin'd by Harvey, because that in a Beast killed before Copulation, he could neither dis∣cern nor know what was the difference of the Constitution in the Copulation it∣self; and in another killed after Copu∣lation he could not find what was the Constitution in the Coition. For if perhaps the Stones did swell in Coition, the swelling of the Genital Parts most certainly fell through the terror of Death, and Death ensuing, and so re∣turn'd to their former lank Constituti∣on; in like manner as a Mans Yard tho' stiff with Lust, flaggs upon the least Fear or apprehension of Death. Further∣more, neither in Coition nor after Co∣ition does any manifest Difference out∣wardly appear to the Eye, neither in the Stones of Men or Women, only that they are drawn upward in Men, yet whether or no there happens any plea∣sing Alteration in the Stones of Females in the venereal Act when the Eggs are impregnated with the due of the Male Seed, this tho' Brute Animals cannot discover in Words, yet their Gesticula∣tion sufficiently declares it: And there∣fore rational Women confess it, that they feel an extraordinary Pleasure in their Wombs, and all the adjacent parts; among which are the Stones, ad∣hering to the Sides of the Womb. * 1.812

The Fifth Argument proves nothing; for they who at the time of Ingravidati∣on from the Eggs injected into the womb by Coition, are afraid of Dam∣mage to the Birth and future Abortions, they are mistaken in that to think that in the Copulations of bigbellied women any Seed bearing Eggs fall anew into the Cavity of the womb, not knowing that those Passages, after Conception, remain clos'd up till the Delivery: As also the Vessels appointed for the Evacu∣ation of the Menstruum's: And that that Pleasure, which such women are sensible of in Copulation, does not proceed from any Egg or Seed slipping out of the Stones into the womb, but from the Viscous Seminal Matter, which is* 1.813 squeez'd out of the Prostates into the Ute∣rine Uagina.

LX. From what has been said it

is sufficiently demonstrable, that Wo∣mens Stones were not given 'em only for Ornament, according to the Ari∣stotelians, which can be none in a part that is always hidden and never conspicuous, but for absolute Necessity.

XLII. Now what that Necessity is, let* 1.814 us inquire: And therefore that some∣thing may be produced out of Plants, there is equally required both a Ferti∣lity of the Earth, and a fecundity of the Seed. The Fecundity of this Seed consists in the spirituous Blossom; the fertility of the Earth in a conveni∣ent Heat and Moisture, duly moisten∣ed and impregnated with Salt and sulphury Particles. Unless these two concur, nothing can be produced from the Seed of a Plant. For Example, Let the best Wheat be thrown into a heap of Salt, Iron, Lead, or dry Sand, nothing grows from thence, tho' the Seed be fruitful in it self, because it does not light into convenient Matter, wherein the generative Principle may be dissolv'd and set at work. In like manner let the same Seed be cast into Earth where there is too great a quantity of Salt, Lime, Canker, or any such matter, endu'd with a corroding and sharp Quality, then the Seed is corrupted and extinguished, together with its generative Principle, and produces nothing; but if it be thrown into a fat Earth well dung'd, then the Heat assisting the more thin Particles of the terrene Moisture, enter the small Pores of the Seed, and are in∣termix'd with its Substance, which there∣upon swells, and so the Germen, or ge∣nerative Principle is dissolved and falls to work, and whatever is thence form'd is nourished, augmented, and increased by the same Moisture, melted and mix'd together with the thicker Particles of the Seed▪ being afterwards to receive from the Earth more and more solid Nourishment when once it has taken Root.

XLIII. And thus it is in the Ge∣neration* 1.815 of Man. The Womb is the Earth, first receiving the masculine fruitful Seed: But unless that Land be moistened with a convenient dewie Moisture, embrace and dissolve that received masculine Seed, and send forth its more subtle engendring Parts through the Tubes to the Eggs contained in the Stones or Ovaries, and that the Eggs thus impregnated proceed to the Womb, that through its cherishing Heat the generative Prin∣ciple infused into 'em may fall to work; I say unless all this be, from the mas∣culine Seed alone, tho' never so fruit∣ful, there will be nothing generated: For nothing is generated from the Male Seed alone, tho' most fruitful in its self. Now, that same Female Al∣buminous Seed of the Eggs is like the fat moisture of the Earth; nay it is the very fat prepared Moisture it self, which conveniently receiving the spirituous part of the Male Seed and entering its Pores, dissolves it, rowses the genera∣tive Principle latent therein, and excites it to Action. Which proceeding into Act, presently forms out of its self, in a small Compendium, the whole that is to be form'd, that is the first Delineations of the whole Birth, and nourishes it with that agreeable Albuminous Moisture up∣on which it swims first by Irroration and Apposition, till it be brought to such a Solidity, and that the Bowels are be∣come so strong, that afterwards they may be able to make and prepare for themselves Nourishment carried to the Womb and infused through the Mouth and Navel.

XLIV. Hence it is apparent why* 1.816 Copulation does not follow every time that a man lies with an Empty woman: because that if a woman, through any Distemper of the Ovaries, or their bad Structure, or by reason of her years, or through any other cause be destitute of Eggs, or that the albuminous Matter latent in the Eggs be badly temper'd, too sharp, too hot, too cold, or endu'd with any bad quality, and so be unfit for the dissolution of the Procreative Male Seed; then no Conception can happen, because the spiritous procreative Principle of the Male Seed, is for the same Reasons stifled and corrupted. But this is not the only cause why Con∣ception is hinder'd: for it frequently al∣so happens, that the Eggs of Women are not come to their just Maturity, or through some Impediment of the Passa∣ges, the generative Principle cannot come to the Eggs, nor the Eggs to the Womb; or else the Male Seed being weak of its self, and destitute of a generative Prin∣ciple, or for that its generative Principle is corrupted and suffocated in the Womb, before it can reach the Eggs, by

reason of the bad temper of the Womb, or else from the vitious Humours there∣in settled; for which Reasons there can be no Conception.

XLV. However it be, the true, ma∣nifest,* 1.817 and necessary Use of the Male Seed appears from what has been al∣ready said; as being that without which there can be no Generation of Man, no more than Generation of Plants, without a fruitful Moisture of the Earth.

XLVI. Here a material Question* 1.818 arises; If there be such a necessity of the Female Seed, in respect of the dis∣solving, cherishing, nourishing Matter, whether it have any share in the form∣ing the Birth?

Hitherto it has been the common Opi∣nion, That it has a share as well of the forming Cause, as of being the nourish∣ing Matter; and that it is mix'd with the Man's Seed, and that one Mass is made of those two Seeds mix'd together, and that out of that Mass being ferment∣ed in the Womb, the spirituous procrea∣tive Principle is drawn forth, by which, and out of which, the Members of the Birth are delineated and form'd. Which Opinion Sennertus very speciously both propounds and defends; and of which Ludovicus Mercatus is no less a strenu∣ous Patron, who thinks with one Hercu∣lean Argument to remove the whole Doubt, and to prove the forming Power of the Female Seed. Whatever assimi∣lates, (saith he) suffering with Victory, of necessity acts: but the Son is sometimes made like the Mother; therefore the Mo∣ther acts in the Generation of the Son.

XLVII. But tho' this whole Argu∣ment* 1.819 should be granted, it does not follow that the Womans Seed affords any power to the forming of the Birth. For there is a great deal of difference between the Mother acting, and the Seed of the Mother acting. For the Mother acts upon the Man's, and her own Seed, while she warms, cherish∣es, and embraces both in her Womb, and so rowses that same procreative Principle into Action. But this renders it fit for the Nutritive Matter. But nei∣ther She nor her Seed contribute any thing to the forming of the Parts, but as Mediums, by which the latent Power in Male Seed is set at work. But if the Womans Seed should act in forming and delineating the Birth, then it ought to contain in it self an active Principle of forming the Parts, which might be pro∣voked from power to act out of that a∣lone, by the cherishing of the Uterine Heat; but it has not, nor is any such thing drawn forth out of it, as we have prov'd before, and is manifest in Wind-Eggs. The likeness of the Son to the Mother proves nothing, in regard the Cause of it does not proceed from any act of the Seed; but is imprinted from another Cause, for the most part upon the Birth it self while it is forming, and oftentimes after it is form'd and fur∣nish'd with all its Members, and some∣times some Weeks or Months after it is form'd: For that innumerable Exam∣ples of Big-belly'd Women teach us that the various strong Imaginations of the Mother, and unusual motions and deter∣minations of the Spirits proceeding from thence, do wonderfully change the Birth already form'd, and imprint this or that figure upon it like soft Wax: while some affrighted by some terrible sight, others looking upon Pictures, either with de∣light or abhorrency, others earnestly longing for Cherries, or other Fruits, have imprinted strange Forms and Moles upon the Birth, and that not long before Delivery; which active power never∣theless neither proceeds from the Seed of the Woman, nor can be any way attri∣buted to her, the Action being done long after the forming of the Birth.

XLVIII. Besides the said Argument* 1.820 of Mercatus, there are three more ponderous produc'd by other Persons: 1. Because a Mule is generated be∣tween a Mare and an Ass. 2. Because that between a Man and a Beast, no Man but an irrational Creature is ge∣nerated. 3. Because a white Woman many times Conceives by an Ethiopian, and produces a white Infant. Which things seem not to be done but by the forming power of the Female Seed, as it concurs with the forming power of the Male Seed.

XLIX. Before I dissolve these Dif∣ficulties,* 1.821 I judge it reasonable to consi∣der, that the Male Seed does not pro∣ceed into act; neither is there any thing produced out of it like to that from whence it proceeded, unless there be a convenient Ferment and Nou∣rishment mixed with it; and if there be any Defect or Error, or Cor∣ruption in either, or in both, then either nothing, or something Vicious,

is produced out of it, which Nature perfects however as far as it can. In like manner as we see among Plants, that the Seed of Barly and Wheat thrown into barren Ground degenerates into Darnel, and other unprofitable Herbs, having no resemblance to the former, by reason of the Defect of convenient Ferment and Nourishment.

L. This being premised, I come to* 1.822 the Objections, and answer to the first, that it does not prove that the female Seed concurs with the Mascu∣line as the efficient Cause of Formati∣on: But that in the said Case the active Principle of Generation is nei∣ther duly produced out of the Masculine Sex, nor conveniently proceeds into Action, by reason of the Impediments that occur, because that the Seed of the Ass is neither in the Egg conve∣niently enough dissolved and provoked into Act by the Seed of the Mare, proportionably to the Nature of that Creature; neither is there Nourish∣ment sufficiently convenient afforded to it in the first Formation. Hence the Workwoman Nature, who never is idle, when she cannot form and perfect an Ass, begets a Creature next approach∣ing to the Nature of the Ass, that is to say a Mule, which in respect of the As∣ses forming Seed is by Nature an Ass, but in respect of the first Nutriment af∣forded in great Quantity by the Mare, and participating of the Nature of the Mare, causes a bulk of Body bigger than that of the Ass, and in some measure re∣sembling that of the Mare.

LI. To the Second I say, That the* 1.823 same Defect happens to the Seed of the Man in the Womb and Eggs of the female Brute, and hence Nature instead of a human Birth, generates out of it an irrational Monster. In like manner as in the Eggs and Wombs of women themselves, by reason of the same defect of convenient Ferment of the womans Seed, or some Corruption of that or the first Nourishment, instead of a Man, sometimes out of the fruitful male Seed Moles are generated, some∣times Brute Beasts, like Frogs, half Dogs, Dormice, Lizzards, and such like Monsters, of which there are seve∣ral Examples to be found among Wri∣ters of Physical Observations, and a∣mong some Historians. Which Mon∣sters however are not generated by the female Seed, as containing in it self any forming Power, but through the De∣fect of the female Seed, which being in a bad Condition causes that impediment, by which the forming Power of the male Seed is so disturbed and obstruct∣ed, that it cannot act aright.

LII. To the Third I say, That a* 1.824 white Woman may bring forth a white Infant, tho' got with Child by a Ne∣gro. Not through any forming Pow∣er in her Seed, but through her strong Imagination and Fancy of a white Child; and through the same strength of Imagination a Negro Woman may bring forth a white Infant. Certain∣ly the Imagination of women conceiving and with Child, works wonders, not on∣ly as to the forming of the Birth, but also after the Formation: And yet no∣thing of this can be ascrib'd to the actu∣ating Power of the womans Seed.

LIII. Some there were who thought,* 1.825 that in the Mare before mentioned, and in other brute Animals, the Ima∣gination strongly operates in the form∣ing the Birth: Which others as stre∣nuously deny; And because brute Ani∣mals are void of Reason, therefore they will not allow 'em any Imagination, but if any thing unusual were begotten in the womb, they think it happened from the forming Power of the female Seed.

LIV. To these Arguments I an∣swer,* 1.826 That tho' Brutes may be said to be void of Reason, Understanding, and Memory, yet they have something proportionable to it, as is manifest from their Actions (the Ox knows his Owner, and the Ass his Masters Crib: The Bee when she brings home her Hony, knows her own Apartment from a hundred that are like it; and a Dog understands the Commands of his Master, and does them.) And that there is something analogous to Imagination in Beasts Conceiving and bigg with Young, is apparent from the Story of Jacob * 1.827. And I my self, with several others, saw a remarkable Exam∣ple of this thing. In the Year 1626. there came by chance a Dromedary to Montfort, which the owner carried a∣bout to be shown. The Creature was very large, round and cleft Hoofs, very thick Knees, and swell'd to the bigness of a Mans Head. This Dromedary by

chance, and out of the way, met a Mare which had been covered about two or three days before by a Stonehorse; which took such a Fright at the suddain meet∣ing this Creature, that presently starting back she threw the Country Man that rid her; and when her time was out she foal'd a Colt, of which all the right Thigh before was like the Thigh of a Drome∣dary, with a large round Hoof and cleft, which Colt afterwards grew to be a strong Horse, which we saw afterwards for many years working both in the Plough and the Cart. Certainly no Man in his Wits will say that this Error in Shaping proceeded from any efficient forming Power in the Seed of the Mare; but rather from the strength of Imagi∣nation.

LV. Thomas Consentinus fanci∣ed* 1.828 a quite contrary Opinion touching this Matter, for he writes, that as well the first Matter from whence, as the efficient Cause by which the Birth is form'd, lies wholly in the female Seed: But that the Mans Seed is neither the matter of the Seed to be form'd, neither contains the forming Power in it self; nor contributes a∣ny thing to Generation, but only a certain insensible Substance, which on∣ly kneads and moves the Matter brought by the Woman. With him Deusingius agrees Lib. de Genesi Micro∣cosmi, where he most plainly teaches, that the Birth is solely form'd out of the female Seed, and that it is not only the Matter out of which it is delineated, but that there is also in it a vegetable Soul that forms the Birth. But that it can∣not be produc'd into Act, but by the assistance of the male Seed, as a kind of Ferment that dissolves its Substance, and so setting the latent Soul at Liberty, and provoking it to act. But this new Opinion is far remote from Truth while it attributes to the imperfect Seed of Women, questioned by some whether it deserve the Name of Seed, the whole power of forming, and the sole matter for the Form. For the Seed of a Tree, Wheat, Beans, or Pease, which is like the Seed of the Man, being cast into its Womb the Earth, does not dissolve the Seed or Juice of the Earth by its assisting Heat, and produce its like out of it; but is dissolved by it, and so the spiri∣tuous part of it being set at Liberty, and proceeding to Action forms out of it self the first Lineaments to be form'd, and nourishes and enlarges 'em when they are form'd, with the more thick Par∣ticles of it self (which seem to supply the place of the womans Seed) and then with the agreeable and convenient Juice of the Earth. The thing is appa∣rent in a Pea or a Bean, which being laid in a warm and moist Place, do not themselves ferment the moist Air, that any thing should be generated out of it, but are dissolved by the Air, and so the spirituous part being set at Liberty, and falling to work, in themselves, and out of themselves, form the thing that is to be form'd, and cast forth the first Bud. So it is in the male Seed both of Men and Beasts, which being cast into the womb, and entring the Eggs with its fructifying part, does not within them produce any aptness in the womans Seed to form any thing out of it self, but its generative Principle being dis∣solv'd by the female Seed contain'd in the Eggs, containing the forming Pow∣er, is collected in a small Bubble, where∣in being set at liberty, it forms out of it self what is to be form'd; and then the womans Seed included in the Egg, which first supplied the place of fermen∣taceous Juice, presently after serves for the first nourishment of the thing form'd. Moreover what Deusingius talks of the Seed of a Cock injected into the Ovarie of a Hen, that makes nothing against us: For that the smallest quantity of the Seed of a Cock is sufficient, for the first Lineaments of the Chicken to be form'd out of it. For if a human Birth, at the first laying its Foundations does not ex∣ceed the bigness of a Pismire, how much smaller and less, must the first Rudi∣ments of a Chicken be, and how small a Portion of Seed will its first Delineati∣on require? Nor is it true what Deusin∣gius adds, that the Cock at one treading infertilizes the whole Ovary, and all the Eggs contained in it, nay that the very smallest Egg, some scarce so big as a Pea, are thereby infertiliz'd, tho' the Cock never tread Hen more. For the Seed of the Cock neither enters nor infertilizes other Eggs, than those that are come to a just Maturity. The rest that are small, and not ripe, are no more impregnated by the Seed of the Cock than a Girl of five or six Years can be impregnated by the Seed of a Man: For those crude and unripe Eggs are as yet not fit to admit and receive the Seed of the Cock, and therefore dai∣ly treading is required, to the end that those Eggs which every day grow ripe, may be impregnated by the Seed of the Cock. And hence it is that those Hens

that are seldom trod, lay many wind Eggs that come to nothing. And there∣fore it is that they who desire many Chickens, choose out the Eggs of such Hens as were most frequently trod by a brisk Cock. The same Consideration may extend it self to womens Eggs, which so long as they are unripe, will not ad∣mit the generative Principle of the male Seed, which is the reason that many young Women of cold Constitu∣tions, do not conceive in several Months after they are married, because their Eggs are unripe and unfit to receive the generative part of mans Seed, which afterwards they do when they come to full Maturity.

LVI. Swammerdam also seems to* 1.829 ascribe both the Matter and the for∣ming Spirit to the Seed of the wo∣man. Fecundation or Conception, saith he, is nothing else, but a Com∣munication of more perfect Motion. So that the Egg, which was nourished and laid in the Ovary, after Concep∣tion, the Ovary being left, may live and be nourished after a more perfect manner, that it may be thought to look after and maintain it self. And in another place he says, all the Parts are in the Egg. And assuming to him∣self the Opinion of Consentinus and Deu∣singius, he asserts that the Seed of man contributes nothing to Fecundity, and that neither the Matter out of which the first Delineation is made, nor that form∣ing Spirit is in it. But if he bring not stronger Reasons than that of may be thought; certainly his Argument will be too weak to confirm his Opinion, or re∣fute mine already proposed concerning the Seed of Man. And indeed how mistrustful he is of his own Opinion, he shews ye in these Words of his, Fe∣cundation cannot be demonstrated but by Reasoning, and very difficultly by Ex∣perience.

LVII. These and the like Conside∣rations* 1.830 are the Reasons that the afore∣said Opinion of the forming Power of womans Seed has been dislik'd by many famous Men, who therefore judg∣ed that the womans Seed concurr'd in Generation as a matter necessary to receive the procreative Part of the fe∣male Seed to cherish and give it Li∣berty, and set it at work; and to nourish the Embryo first delineated, but contributes no Matter to the forming of the Lineaments, nor can claim any thing of efficient Cause in forming the Birth. Which latter was the Opinion of Aristotle, stiffly after∣wards defended by Caesar of Cremona, as also by Scaliger, in these words. As there can be but one form of one thing, so the Principle containing that Form can be but one. Therefore the Seed of Man is but one. For being simple and indivi∣sible in its Form, it cannot be composed of two, which it would be if it should proceed from the Male and the Female. Subtil. Exercit. 268. Several other Ar∣guments he adds in the same place, by which he does not only deny all forming Power in the female Seed, but refuses to acknowledg the Seed it self; nor will he seem to allow it any ministerial Functi∣on. Scaliger's Arguments are very weigh∣ty; so that I easily agree with him, that the form and act of Formation proceeds only from the Seed of the Man, and that the womans Seed contributes no forming effective Cause to the shaping and delineation of the Birth. Yet I cannot with Scaliger wholly renounce the womans Seed; for I have both asserted and prov'd it to be very necessary for Generation. And being necessary, yet not having a forming Power, it cannot otherwise be necessary but only in respect of that Matter, without which the Power of the mans Seed cannot be waken'd and rowsed into Act. Now that it is not endu'd with a forming Power, appears from hence, that a woman cannot con∣ceive of herself without the help of male Copulation. Tho' it may be very pro∣bable that in her nocturnal Pollutions, which happen to women as well as men, besides the seminal Matter breaking forth out of the Prostates into the Vagina, many times the Eggs slip out and evacu∣ate through the Tubes into the Womb. Which nevertheless, if the Seed inclu∣ded in the Eggs contained two Principles of Generation, Active and Passive, see∣ing she has both Place, Time, and Nou∣rishment convenient within her own Body, could not choose but conceive of herself. Besides, Nature has so provi∣ded, that there shall be only one Agent to produce a natural Effect, by the Te∣stimony of Aristotle; but if the Seed of the woman participated of the formal and efficient Cause, then there would be two active Principles, the Seed of the woman, and the Seed of the man, which is repugnant to the Order of Nature. Again, if both Sexes contributed an active Power, the Male would produce either

the same with the Woman, or another quite contrary: If the same, then one would superabound; if different, then Twins would always be begot, or Her∣maphrodites, which rarely happens. Last∣ly, our Opinion is confirm'd by the Na∣tural Instinct of Mankind; for the Chil∣dren are not denominated from the Mo∣ther, but generally from the Father, as from him, who being their Efficient Principle, contributed to their being form'd.

LVIII. Hence it is apparent that* 1.831 the Seed of the Woman does not con∣tain in it self any forming Power in reference to the Birth, nor is any Effi∣cient Cause thereof; nor as the first mat∣ter, contributes to the first matter of the Birth that is to be form'd: but that it is only necessary as a matter gent∣ly receiving the generative Principle of the Male Seed, dissolving and fomenting it, and setting at liberty the forming spi∣rit inherent in the generative Principle; and disposing it to act, and to form all the first Lineaments of the Body out of it self, and nourishing the Embryo, when reduced into shape.

LIX. Hippocrates does not seem* 1.832 to favour this Opinion of ours, who writes thus, Lib. 1. de Genitur. In Man there is both the Male and Fe∣male Seed; and so likewise it is in Woman; but the Male Seed is the stronger: and Ge∣neration must of necessity be accomplish'd by the stronger. In which words Hippocrates seems to intimate, that Womens seed partakes no less of the Efficient Cause than the Man's. I answer, That in Generation, the strength of the Seeds con∣sists partly in the Efficient Cause, partly in the Material preparing for Formation. And both Causes being taken separately, may be called eitheir strong or weak, or to use Hippocrates's phrase, either Virile or Female. When the Efficient Cause of Formation, which is in the Male Seed, is strong or virile, and the material, cherishing, and nourishing Cause, which is the Female Seed, is likewise strong or virile, then of both together comes a Male Child. If either Cause be weak, yet one stronger than the other, then from the Cause that prevails proceeds a Boy or a Girl. So that it cannot be concluded from the words of Hippocrates himself, that he allowed the Female Seed an Efficient Power; but that he has plac'd that same strength of which he speaks, no less in the Material preparing Cause than in the Efficient, and that by strength in the Male Seed he understood a strong and robust efficient Power of Forming; in the Womans Seed, an ex∣cellent temper of preparing and nourish∣ing Matter, and an aptitude to set at li∣berty the efficient principle latent in the Virile Seed.

LX. Veslingius fancied quite ano∣ther* 1.833 Opinion of the Womans Seed; for he acknowledges therein a double substance; one Corporeal, requisite for the forming of the Birth, and another more watery, which loosens the parts of the Womb, cherishes and preserves the Birth, and which he says, flows conti∣nually into the Womb after Concep∣tion.

The Portion, saith he, of Spermatic Moisture, which slows from the Stones to the bottom of the Womb, is of a more no∣ble use after Conception. For upon this swims the rude little Body of the Embryo, at the beginning of its conformation; and so not only hinders the more intense heat of the Womb from making any irregular disso∣lution of any thing, but gently sustains the Birth it self in the strong shogs of the Mothers Body, and secures the Umbilical Vessels, at that time as thin as a hair, from danger of a Rupture.

Veslingius has done well to consider two parts in the Seed of the Woman: but in that he was greatly deceived according to the ancient Opinion, that the Man and the Womans Seed were mix'd toge∣ther in the Womb, and so thought the Birth to be form'd out of that Mixture; and that he also believed, that the Mil∣ky Juice, which in Big-bellied Women flows to the Womb for the nourishment of the Child, to be the more watery part of the Womans Seed. Concerning which Juice, see Chap. 31.

LXI. At this day, according to the* 1.834 Opinion of Harvey, many people as∣sert, that the Womens Seed, after Con∣ception, together with the Man's Seed, flows out again from the Womb, as be∣ing altogether of no use. Yet tho' the vanity of that Opinion be apparent from what has been said, we shall examin it however more at large in the next Chapter.

After this Explanation made, both of the Man's and Womans Seed, two things remain to be inquired into in general concerning the Seed. First, At what Age the Seed is generated; and Secondly, Why Eunuchs and gelt Animals become fatter and more languid?

LXII. As to the first, The Seed is* 1.835 not generated till the habit of the Bo∣dy becomes dryer and stronger, and when the Body is come to its full growth. And hence it is, that because the Body attains that strength and firmness between the fourteenth and twentieth year, that then the Seed be∣gins to be generated, and acquires eve∣ry day so much the greater perfection, by how much the Body grows stronger, and needs less growth. Now the rea∣son why Seed is not generated at younger years, and in Childhood, is vulgarly imputed to the growth of the Body, upon which the superfluous part of the Blood, of which the Seed is here∣after to be made, is then consumed. But this Reason is far fetch'd, and only a sign of the Cause why Seed is not generated. First therefore we are to enquire, why at younger years the Body most increases in bulk, and grows so fast, that by the knowledge of this we may come to know why the Seed is not generated at that Age.

LXIII. The growth of the Body pro∣ceeds* 1.836 from hence, because all the Parts abound with a moist, sulphurous, oily Iuice, and for that reason are very flexible and apt to extend; so that the Animal Spirits flowing into them, the Blood pour'd into the Arteries for Nou∣rishment sake, do not so sharply ferment, and therefore cannot make a sufficient separation of the salt Particles from the sulphury. Partly because their force is debilitated by the copious Moisture, and oiliness of the sulphury parts. partly because the Brain it self, being as yet very much over moist, does not at that time breed such sharp Humours, as to make a smart Effervescency, which afterwards come to be genera∣ted in greater quantity when all the parts come to be drier. For this Rea∣son also the Spermatic Vessels, where the chief strength of Semnification lies, are not then so very much dryed, but by reason of the copious more moist and oily Particles of the Nourishment, con∣tinually poured in upon them, they are extended, and grow in length and thick∣ness: and that so much the more swiftly, by how much more moist and oily Nourishment feeds them, as it happens in Infancy and Childhood. But their strength and solidity is then more in∣creased when they become dryer and grow less. I speak of moderate and convenient driness, not of a total con∣sumption of moisture. Now the reason why they become more dry is, because the overmuch oily Moisture is by degrees consum'd by the increasing heat, and by that means the overmuch moisture and lankness of the Spermatic Parts is abated, and they become stronger, in regard a greater quantity of the salt Particles se∣parated from the Blood, is mingled with them, and is more firmly united and as∣similated to them.

LXIV. The same cause that promotes* 1.837 and cherishes the growth of the Body, hinders the Generation of Seed in Chil∣dren. Hence it is that the Blood is more moist and oily; and the Animal Spirits themselves less sharp, and fewer in quantity, flow to the Stones, so that there is only enough for the growth of the Parts, but not for the Generation of Seed. But afterwards, through the increase of heat that oily superfluous sub∣stance being somewhat wasted, then the Brain being dryer begets sharper Animal Spirits, which being mix'd with the Ar∣terious Blood, carried through the Nerves to the Stones, more easily sepa∣rate from it the salter Particles more fit for the Generation of Seed, with which being condens'd and mix'd into a thin Liquor by the proper quality of the Stones proceeding from their peculiar structure and temper, they are concocted into Seed, which becomes so much the more perfect, by how much the copious Moisture is predominant therein, which in perfect Seed ought to be but mode∣rate.

LXV. And hence it is also apparent* 1.838 wherefore in old Age, very little, or watery, or no Seed at all is made in the Stones: Because that by reason of their abated heat, over much moisture again prevails at that Age through the whole Body; tho' not so oily as in Childhood, but crude and more watery, whence the Brain becomes moister, and begets fewer or less eager Spirits, and the Blood becomes colder and moister. Moreover, the Parts themselves con∣cocting the Seed, become more languid and over moist, and consequently unapt, as well in respect of the Matter, as their own proper debility, to make Seed: I except some sort of old men, vigorous in their old Age, who at fourscore and fourscore and ten have begot Children,

as Platerus relates concerning his own Father.

LXVI. As to the latter Question,* 1.839 why Eunuchs and gelded Animals be∣come more languid and less vigo∣rous, the Reason is, because that through the cutting out of the Stones, there follows an extraordinary change of the whole Temper of the Body; in regard that lustful seminal Breathing ceases, which is diffus'd over all the Parts of the Body (which is appa∣rent from the peculiar Smell and Rankness of Tast in the Flesh of Beasts ungelt) and by means of which the Blood and other Humours are more warmly heated, and the Spirits ren∣dered more smart and vigorous. This remarkable Alteration of Tempera∣ment is apparent in Eunuchs from hence, that the Hair grown before Ca∣stration never falls off, and the Hair not grown before, either upon the Lips or other parts, never comes: Quite con∣trary to what befalls those that are not geit.

LXVII. The same is manifestly ob∣served* 1.840 in Deer who shed their large Beams every Year, and then new ones come the next Year in their places; but being gelt presently after they have shed their Horns, their Antlers ne∣ver grow again, but they become very fat. Now this change of Temper, caused by the defect of lustful and mas∣culine seminal inward Breathings tho∣rough the whole Body, tends toward Cold, whence it happens that the Blood becomes more oily and less fervent, and the animal Spirits are generated less sharp and vigorous, and less dispers'd, and that part of the Blood, which other∣wise ought to be consum'd in Seed and seminal Spirits, remains solely in the Body; fills the Vessels, and more plen∣tifully nourishes every part; and that plenty and oyliness of the Blood moi∣stens and plumps up the Body to a more extraordinary Corpulency. For the fermenting Quality of the animal Spirits in such an abounding Quantity of san∣guineous Juice, tho' less fervent, being now more languid and remiss, becomes less able to separate the sulphury and oi∣ly Particles of the Blood from the salt ones, which for that reason remaining mix'd together in greater quantity, and joyn'd together for the nourishment of the Parts, moisten them less, and ren∣der them fatter, but more languid, and not so strong. For that Interposition hinders the more dry and salter Parti∣cles of the Blood from being firmly u∣nited to the spermatic Vessels.

LXVIII. To this we may add,* 1.841 that in those that are gelt, by reason of that extraordinary Redundancy of oylie Blood, the Brain it self is over∣much moistened, whence the Spirits become less sharp, subtil and vigorous, and consequently less sharp and fit for animal Actions. Which make Eu∣nuchs more dull, less couragious, lan∣guid, and effeminate, and slower in all the Exercises both of Body and Mind.

LXIX. From the same Redundancy* 1.842 in the Blood of oily Particles, dulling the Acrimony of the animal Spirits, it happens, that they who are natural∣ly fat and gross, generate less Seed and slower, are less fit for the Sports of Venus, and are soon tired. Where∣as on the other side strong lean People are prone to Venery, and hold out longer. Because they have more Seed, and more quickly replenish'd, besides that their animal Spirits are sharper and more copious; and their fermenting Power is not so soon abated by the o∣ver much Plenty of Oily Moisture. But some will say, why are not Children fat for the same Reason? Because the re∣dundant moist and dew-like Blood is consum'd in the growth and increase of the Body.

LXX. From what has been said* 1.843 it appears, wherefore in a Plethory the Body becomes unwieldy, slothful, and weak, and all the animal Acti∣ons, both the principal, and others grow drowsy, and the Persons them∣selves are sleepy and heavy Headed, &c. because that by reason of the extraordi∣nary Redundancy of the oylie Particles in the Blood, the animal Spirits are ge∣nerated fewer in Quantity, less sharp and active.

Now what that fermenting Power of the animal Spirits, so often mentioned, is, see l. 3. c. 11.

CHAP. XXIX. Of Conception, and the forming of the Embryo.

I. WHen the fruitful Seed of* 1.844 both Sexes is received into a Womb well dispos'd, and is detain'd inclos'd therein, it is called Conception.

II. This Conception is made in the* 1.845 Cavity of the Womb it self, and not in any Pores of the inner Mem∣branes; in regard that no Quantity of injected Seed can be contain'd in the Pores, neither is the prolific Prin∣ciple, being separated from the thicker Mass of the Seed, included in the Pores, but is carried through the Tubes to the Ovary; with which the Eggs being impregnated, pass the same way to the Womb, where they are detain'd and cherished. But as for those, who following Harvey, assert that the Seed being injected into the Womb, soon after flows out again, the prolific Principle only remaining within, and tell us that the Conception is per∣fected not in the Cavity of the Womb, but in the Pores of the internal Mem∣branes, which Regius also affirms: how far they are mistaken shall appear by that which follows.

III. Now it is necessary, that the* 1.846 Seed being receiv'd and detain'd, that the Orifice of the Womb should be closed, and so continue; at least for the first Months, to the end that Spirit, wherein the fruitfulness of the Seed continues, should not be dissipa∣ted and lost, before it slide through the Tubes to the Ovaries; which would easily happen, were not the Orifice well closed; that the Eggs also being im∣pregnated with the said Spirit, and so carried from the Ovaries to the Womb, should not slip forth, nor be corrupted by the entrance of the Air. This Closure of the Womb, as Galen affirms, and we have seen, is so strait and exact that it will not admit the top* 1.847 of a Probe.

IV. Now I speak of the Seed of both Sexes, neither will I be so rash, as with Aristotle, or with Harvey, to question the Womans Seed, or to be∣lieve that Conception cannot be made without it, having prov'd the necessity of it in the former Chapter; for tho' it be not the efficient Cause of Formati∣on, yet is it such a material Cause, as ought necessarily to concur in the Eggs with the prolific Principle of the male Seed to its Dissolution, and the Expedi∣tion of its Operation; and it also con∣stitutes the Matter, together with the more watery dissolv'd Parts of the mas∣culine Seed, by which the most slender, the most tender and smallest Threads of the Members of the Embryo being by this time form'd, may first be cherished, and then receive its Nourishment from it, as likewise its Growth; as also for the forming of the Membrane it self, the Amnion, and the Chorion; in like manner as in a Hens Egg we see the Shell, and the inner thin Membrane form'd out of the Seed of the Hen, before her being trod by the Cock; as is apparent in Wind Eggs. Which Shell however, together with the fore∣said thin Membrane in the Eggs of Hens and other Birds, neither grow nor are enlarged after the Eggs are laid, be∣cause they have acquired their just Ca∣paciousness and Magnitude before the Eggs were laid; as being to be hatch'd without the Body of the Birds, quite o∣therwise than in other Creatures that bring forth live Conceptions, in which, as the Embryo grows, those Membranes must of necessity encrease. And hence because the womans Seed alone is not sufficient to supply that daily Growth in the Womb: First the more watery Parts of the male Seed residing in the Womb, and the Blood and other Hu∣mours conveighed through the Vasa Sanguifera, joyn themselves to its as∣sistance.

V. Here we think fit to explode* 1.848 the Opinion of those who with Ari∣stotle say that the menstruous Blood concurs in like manner with the Seed to the first forming of the Parts. For all the Parts are delineated out of the Seed alone, and that by and out of the most subtil and most spirituous part of it: Neither does the menstruous Blood, nor any other Blood contribute any thing more than Nourishment, which causes the Growth of the Parts.

VI. After Conception the Orifice of* 1.849 the Womb is not only closed, but the whole Womb▪ contracts it self about

the Seed, to the end it may the better detain and embrace it. Thus Galen reports that the Women have often told him, that after Conception they have felt a certain motion in the Privities, that did as it were pull and contract them together.

VII. The Seed being detain'd in* 1.850 the Womb, is cherish'd, alter'd, and melted by the dewie heat of the Womb; and so its thicker and more fix'd Par∣ticles, being dissolv'd by a more firm cleaving and binding together, the more spirituous and active parts which lay imprison'd in those thicker Parti∣cles being set at liberty, presently pass through the Uterine Tubes to the O∣varies, to the end they may enter the Eggs that are come to maturity, and impregnate them, wherein they meet in a small Bubble, and like a transpa∣rent and crystalline Liquor appear in the Egg carried to the Womb.

VIII. Now in this small Bubble on∣ly* 1.851 is the forming of the whole Embryo perfected. For in that same thin and spirituous part of the Seed the Archite∣ctonic Faculty lies, which by the che∣rishing of the Uterine heat, together with its subject in which it is fix'd, that is to say, that same thin and spi∣rituous Liquor of the Seed, being set at liberty breaks forth into Action. For it cannot be free, but it must act: nor can it be set at liberty, unless by an External Cause; that is, by the heat of the Womb, the whole Mass of the Mas∣culine Seed being ejected in Copulation, be dissolv'd and melted, and by that means the spirituous or prolific Part be∣ing separated from it, be carried through the Tubes to the Ovaries, and then shut up in the Eggs, return again with them to the Womb. For as nothing can produce it self, so neither can any form produce it self out of Matter. But break∣ing forth into Act out of its slender in∣closure, it begins the delineation of the whole Embryo, and in a short time com∣pleats it. For presently the thin Parti∣cles of the Bubble are gently agitated, and mov'd one among another, and co∣agulated here and there into various forms and shapes, and innumerable pas∣sages are hollow'd out through them, and so all the Parts of the Body are form'd: because that same spirituous Mat∣ter of the Bubble being separated from the thicker Mass, contains in it self Idea's of all the Parts, and hence acquires an aptitude to receive the forms of all the Parts, and shape the Figures in it self. Now because there is but a very small quantity of that spirituous part included in the Bubble, and still the least and most subtil part of that is expended up∣on the Delineation of the Embryo, there∣fore the Birth at the beginning is scarcely so big as an Emmet.* 1.852

IX. Hence it is apparent, because the Liquor contain'd in that Bubble is the most subtil part of the Masculine Seed, that the first delineaments of all the Parts are form'd out of the Seed a∣lone, that is, out of the most thin and subtil part of it, and then is afterwards increas'd, and more embody'd, first by the thicker Particles both of the Man and Womans Seed melted and dif∣fus'd, and then by the milkie watery Iuice flowing through the Navel.* 1.853

X. From what has been said, it is manifest how much Aristotle swerv'd from the Truth, while he affirms that all the Parts are form'd, not out of the Seed, but out of the Blood: nay, while he attributes to the Male Seed no share, either as to the Formation or the Matter; but only affirms that the menstruous Blood by motion, generates both form and parts. The Seed, says he, is no part of the Embryo, as the Carpenter contributes nothing to the matter of the Wood; neither is there any part of the Car∣penters Art in what is fram'd, but form and species proceeds from that by motion in the matter. In which Error Harvey also fell, while he endeavour'd to prove that the Blood exists before all the other Members; and hence all the first threads of all the parts are delineated out of the Blood; which he would seem to confirm more strenuously Exercit. 56. It seems a Paradox, says he) that the Blood should be made and imbued with vital Spirit, before the Blood-making or moving Organs are in being. Thus Exercit. 16. he says, that the Blood is first in being, and that Pulsation comes afterward. But we an∣swer to Harvey, That tho' the little Heart, which sanguifies, cannot be well discern'd at first, or clearly be distin∣guish'd from other parts; yet of necessity it must be form'd, together with the rest of the parts, before the Blood, and be∣ing form'd presently beats; tho' the slen∣der Pulse cannot be discerned by us at the beginning. For all the Parts delinea∣ted out of the pellucid, spirituous, seminal

Liquor inclos'd in the Bubble; and so by reason of their colour, and their ex∣tream smallness are hardly to be distin∣guish'd by the sight. For otherwise, that there is a heart, and that it exists before the Blood, the Effect manifestly declares. For seeing there is no Blood contained in the Bubble before delineati∣on, nor can flow into it from any other part; therefore that which is observ'd in it at the beginning of the delineation, when any small Threads begin to ap∣pear, must of necessity be generated within it; now then if no other part ge∣nerate blood but the heart, nor any blood can be generated spontaneously, and by it self, of necessity when any signs of blood begin to appear in the Liquefacti∣on of the Bubble, which are easily visi∣ble, because of their ruddy colour, we must of necessity conclude a praeexistency of the Efficient Cause of blood, which is the heart, tho' it cannot be so easily dis∣cern'd or known to be what it is, by rea∣son of its transparency and exility. So likewise if the blood be moved through the Vessels, since it cannot be done with∣out pulsation of the heart, most certain it is that the heart beats, tho' the pulsa∣tion be not to be discern'd. For the rea∣son why neither the little heart, nor its pulsation, cannot be discern'd, is not be∣cause there are no such things, but be∣cause they are so extreamly small, as not to be discernable to our eyes. More∣over, the thing is manifest in an Egg put under a Hen; for the colliquation with the Bubble that first appears to the Eye, is before the blood: and since it includes in its Bubble the forming power that makes the Chicken, and for that the blood can never penetrate the inner parts of the Egg, it is an Argument that the Members of the Chicken delineated, are delineated out of the Bubble of that Col∣liquation, and not out of the blood. And thus a Plant is not generated out of the green Juice, with which it is afterwards nourish'd, but out of the spirituous pro∣lisic Principle latent in the Seed. But when the Plant is generated, then it goes on with its work in preparing the Juice which it makes for its Nourishment. To this we may add, That it appears by inspection into a Hen Egg, that a small leaping print and the blood are seen to∣gether.

XI. Whence it is apparent that there* 1.854 can be no Blood, before the Organ that makes the Blood, that is the heart; which if the delineaments of the whole Body were form'd out of the Blood, ought to be form'd with the rest after the Blood, which is false, as we find by the testimony of our own eyes, and which the Reasons before alledged confirm. And therefore the first Threads of the Infant are delineated out of the Seed a∣lone, and not out of the blood; neither does the Architectonic Spirit bring forth into Action, out of the Blood, but out of the prolific Principle, and the sangui∣fic Bowel the heart being form'd, pre∣sently that begets the blood, and puts it into motion. Deusingius discoursing of this matter, thus breaks out; What Cap∣tain, (says he) or what Intelligence directs the blood through the vagous and floating matter of Conception? What assisting In∣telligence (when first it is destitute of un∣derstanding) shall design for it the seat for the forming the Bowels? Where is the heart to be form'd? where the Reins to be plac'd? where the Brains or the Spleen? lest the Brains should choose their seat in the Abdomen, and the Intestines theirs in the Scull? What Cause shall move it to a Circulation afterwards, unless it were mov'd by the beating Vesicle of the heart? What Providence shall so restrain its wan∣dring at first without any Receptacles, and upon the building of the several Conduit∣pipes, shall direct its course into each of them.

XII. Now it is not any sort, but a* 1.855 particular and appropriated Nourish∣ment that is requisite for the small Bo∣dy of the Embryo, already delineated in the Bubble, by which, without the visible concoction of the Bowels, it may be cherish'd and enlarg'd. Now this Nourishment could neither be Blood nor Chylus, as wanting a greater preparation and concoction before they can nourish; and therefore for that purpose the pro∣vident Creator has included Female Seed in the Womans Egg, like a cer∣tain white of a Hen Egg, as being a most mild Humour, most apt for the first cherishing and moistning Nourish∣ment of the swimming Embryo, nearest approaching to the nature of the tender parts already delineated, nor having need of much concoction, but only a slight preparation, and a gentle colli∣quation and attenuation, through the mild heat of the Womb. Thus also Galen writes, That the Embryo is first nourish'd by the Female Seed, as being that which is more familiar to its nature than the blood; since every thing that is nourish'd must be nourish'd by its like. As we find that Chickens are first nou∣rish'd in the Eggs with the inner white,

which is the Seed of the Birds. But in regard that in the little Egg, which in women falls out of the Ovarie through the Tubes into the Womb, there cannot be much female Seed contain'd, there∣fore there is added to it a watery Juice, being the remainder of the Mans Seed already melted and attenuated, after the prolific Principle being separated from it, and driven to the Ovaries, which the Egg falling down into the Womb, gentlely receives and embraces, and pene∣trating the Pores of its little Stems, and by that means entring the inner parts, and mingling it self with the albumi∣neous female Juice, encreases in quanti∣ty the Colliquation where the Embryo swims, and also strongly distends and amplifies the little Skins of the Egg, that there may be a larger Seat for the Em∣bryo, and more Nourishment, next ap∣proaching the Nature of its Principles. But whether that seminal Liquor, which flows from the Prostates of women in Copulation, be mix'd with the residue of the mans Seed in the Womb, or pre∣sently flow forth after the Act, I can∣not hitherto certainly find out. Besides the prolific Principle before inclosed in the Egg goes to work much more strong∣ly and vigorously, when the thicker dissolv'd part of the mans Seed has ente∣red thorough its Tunicles into the inner parts of it; and by mixture of it self has conveniently dissolv'd the albumi∣neous female Seed, to make it more fit to rowle the Spirit of the prolific Prin∣ciple into Act. The same appears also in Plants, in whose Seed the prolif•…•…c Principle being included and intangled, never proceeds into Act, till they have suck'd in the Juice of the Earth through their Husks and Shells, which dissolves the inner Substance that resembles the womans Seed, and so sets the prolific Principle at Liberty to fall to work: And so the first Cherishing and Nou∣rishment of the Embryo, is like that Sub∣stance, out of which it is form'd, or at least form'd out of the like. Which is observ'd also by Aristotle, who says, The Matter is the same that constitutes and enlarges the Creature. For whatever is added to the delineated Parts while they grow, ought to be like that Substance, out of which they were fram'd. In which Particular Harvey also agrees.

XIII. Nor let any body wonder,* 1.856 that the remainder of the masculine Seed dissolved and attenuated, should penetrate and enter the inner Parts of the Egg, through the Pores of the little Skins of the womans Egg (which Skins are very tender and porous at first, but composing the Chorion and Amnion so close and firm, that they will suffer the Penetration of no Hu∣mour.) For this Penetration may as well happen in a womans Egg, as in the Seeds of Plants, that through the P•…•…res of their hard Shells easily imbibe the Moisture of the Earth, by which the Rind is then very much dilated, which causes the Seeds to swell, and w•…•…th that imbib'd Moisture of the •…•…arth mixed with the thicker dissolv'd Particles of the Seed, the delineated Kernel so soon as shaped is nourished; which being brought to that bigness as to want more Nourishment, that cast forth Roots like Navils, to draw out of the Earth a stronger Nourishment through them. And thus it is a in human Embryo, and the dissolv'd remainder of the mans Seed mix'd therewith. But this Nourishment being almost spent, the Womb begins to enlarge it self, for the Passage, tho∣rough it, of the Nourishment to the Em∣bryo, as through a Root.

XIV. This foresaid Matter, nou∣rishes* 1.857 the Parts two ways. First by a close Apposition; as the tender deli∣neated Parts are every way moisten'd and increased by it. Secondly, By the Assimilation of the Aliments concocted in their proper Bowels. For that the newly form'd Bowels of the Em∣bryo, at first cannot undertake Con∣coctions, nor prepare or make Nou∣rishment, which is the reason that the thin Nourishment is afforded by Ap∣position o•…•…t of the seminal Matter prepared before. But soon after the Heart makes Blood of the same Mat∣ter, for the more plentiful intrinsic Nourishment of the Parts, and then to the Nourishment by Application, is added another Nourishment by Re∣ception.

Both these ways at the Beginning Harvey acknowledges, Exercit. 9. For, says he, in all Nutrition and gro•…•…ing there is equally necessary a near Applica∣tion of the Parts, and Concocti•…•…n and Distribution of the apply'd Nourishment, neither is the one to be accompted less true Nourishment than the other, seeing that it happens by the Access. Apposition, Ag∣glutination, and Transmutation of new Nourishment. Neither are Pease or Beans said less to be nourished with the Humor

of the Earth, which they suck in through their Tunicles, like Spu•…•…ges, then if they should admit the same Nourishment tho∣ro•…•…gh the Orifices of little Veins, &c.

But at length that seminal Liquor be∣ing spent, and the Bowels being by this time well grown and corrob•…•…rated, and the milkie Juice flowing copiously into the Amnion, the Nourishment by Ap∣plication ceases by degrees, and Nou∣rishment by inward Reception, that is, by the Blood takes place. Because that milkie Liquor is not so agreeable to the parts of the Birth, as the first seminal Liquor, and therefore requires a more perfect Concoction and Alteration into Blood before it can nourish.

XV. But the Blood being bred in* 1.858 the Heart, and imparted to the whole Body, cleaves to the small Threads of the Parts, first of the Heart, then of the Liver, Lungs, Kidneys, Stomach, and Muscles, &c. For there are va∣rious thicker Particles in the Blood, thin, salt, sulphury, mix'd, of which some cleave to and are more convenient for these, and are united to them as they are more proper and agreeable to their Nature; according to which variety of Nature they undergo several Alterati∣ons, before they can be Assimilated. And the more the Blood grows to these deli∣neated Threads, so much the more the fleshy Masses of the Bowels encrease, and the rest of the Parts also by degrees, are more and more compleated, and grow stronger and stronger, tho' some later, some sooner, according as Nature has use for 'em.

XVI. Whence it is that the Heart* 1.859 manifestly acts, sanguifies, and beats first of all; because the perfection and action of it, is of all others the first and most chiefly necessary: And still the Bra•…•…n appears like a thicker sort of puddle Water, when all the rest of the Parts are upon their growth: And tho' afterwards it contribute somewhat bene∣ficial to Nourishment, yet in the begin∣ning, when all the slender Delineaments, are but just form'd, contain a kind of fermentaceous Quality in themselves, and neither require nor can endure a strong Fermentation, there is no need of its Assistance. Beside the brain also many other Parts do but very slightly appear, till some time after the first Foundations are laid, and some Parts not till after the birth of the Infant, as the Teeth, tho' they were all delineated at the beginning. For as Nature, the Parts being already delineated, presently acts by their assistance as her •…•…eed re∣quires, so does she perfect the Organs not by growth, but as the necessity of Use requires their Perfection. And as we may collect what parts are form'd by their Action, tho' they cannot be discern'd by the Eye, so we may col∣lect that those Parts are of special Use which are first finished, among which are the Heart.

XVII. And thus it is apparent,* 1.860 that the Embryo is generated out of the prolific Principle contained in the Bubble, that it is afterwards nourish∣ed, first by the Seed of the woman, and the melted remainder of the mans, afterwards with that seminal Nourish∣ment and Blood, and lastly with Blood alone.

XVIII. This Opinion of ours is* 1.861 contrary to theirs, who alledg that man is produc'd and form'd out of the specific Principle alone, that is, out of the spirituous and efficacious part of the Seed, but that the whole Mass of the Seed beside, is altogether un∣profitable, and therefore flows out a∣gain after Conception. True it is, that the first Lineaments or Threads of the whole Body are form'd out of the Egg alone, infused into the wo∣mans Egg and collected in the Bub∣ble; but it is as great a mistake, that after the separation of the prolific Principle, and the real Conception, that the rest of the Seed flows out as un∣profitable, as being repugnant, 1. to Reason. 2. To the Authorities of the best Physicians. 3. To Experience.

• 1. Reason. Because that when the Seed is received into the Womb, and once Conception happens, the Orifice of the Womb is so exactly closed, that nothing can flow out again.
• ...

  2. Authorities. For Hippocrates ex∣presly declares, That if a Woman after Copulation does not conceive, the Seed of both Sexes flows out again: But if she conceive, the Seed never fl•…•…ws out again. For that being once cordially embraced, the Womb is closed up, the Orifice being contracted by reason of its Moisture, and as well the womans as the mans Seed are mixed together. So that if a woman has had Children, and observes when the Seed first began to stay in her Body, she shall know the day she conceiv'd.

  The same Hippocrates in his Treatise

• ...

  de Natura Pu•…•…ri, has these words. If the Geniture of both Parents stays in the womans Womb, then first, because the wo∣man is seldom at rest, it is mingled, con∣dens'd and thickens with heat. The words of Galen are, If the Seed remains in the Matrix, the woman will conceive. And in another place, I have read all the Physicians that have writ of this Matter, which I find to affirm the same thing, that if a woman will conceive, of neces∣sity the mans Seed must remain in her Bo∣dy. In like manner Macro•…•…ius. The Seed, says he, that after Injection does not come forth again in seven Hours, may be pro∣nounc'd to stay in order to Conception. Which most of the Ancients, both Greeks, and Arabians, in all their Wri∣tings assert, as having learn'd it from manifold Observation. Among the Moderns, Fernelius, Ludovicus Merca∣tus, and several others, maintain the same Doctrine.

• 3. Experience. For Galen writes that he has often been told by Persons expe∣rienced in those Affairs, that Mares, Bitches, Asses, Cows, Goats, and Sheep, manifestly retain the Seed in their Wombs; as also, that he himself has frequently made tryal of it, and always observ'd in all Creatures that retain'd their Seed after Conception, and became impreg∣nated, that the Seed was still found in the Womb upon Dissection. Which if Galen found to be always true in brute Animals, why not in Women? But use confirms the same, for women cer∣tainly know themselves to be with child, if they observe their Privities to conti∣nue dry after Copulation, and that none of the Seed comes away from them. Ask a hundred women one after ano∣ther, and they will unanimously confess that to be a certain sign of their Con∣ceiving, and being with Child; and they should certainly know by that sign when they conceived, but that after Copula∣tion in the Night they fall asleep; or after Copulation in the day time, taken up with other business, they never take exact Notice whether the Seed comes from them or no. Which not being diligently observed by 'em, they seldom know certainly when they conceiv'd, and begin their Reckoning from the time they miss'd their Flowers, and so are frequently mistaken in their Ac∣compt.

XIX. But neither the foresaid Rea∣son,* 1.862 nor the Authorities of the most famous Physicians, nor the Acknow∣ledgments of the Women themselves, could prevail so far, but that Harvey will still maintain, that the Seed con∣tributes nothing to the Growth and forming of the Parts, and for that reason asserts, that the Seed either does not enter the Womb, or being entered, flows out again, without Pre∣judice to Conception. Into which Er∣ror he has also drawn Regius, and several other Philosophers. The Rea∣sons that confirm him in his Opinion, he takes from Ocular Testimony, as having dissected several Do•…•…s, Hinds, and many other brute Creatures, yet never found any Seed in their wombs, tho' he believes several of those Crea∣tures to have been with young. In Bitches, Conies, and several other Ani∣mals, saith he, I have made tryal, that there is nothing to be found in the womb for several days after Coition, that I am convinced that the Birth does not proceed from the Seed, either of Male or Female injected into the womb in Coition, nor from the menstruous Blood, as the Matter, according to Aristotle, neither that there is any Conception presently after Coition; and that therefore it cannot be true, that in a prolific Coition there is any Matter prepared in the womb, which the Virtue of the male Seed coagulates like Rennet, for there is nothing at all to be seen there∣in for several days. And in another Place, Exercit. 17. In the Cavity of the womb, saith he, I never, could find any Seed of the Male, nor any thing else that render'd toward Conception: And yet the Males every day copulated with the Fe∣males, and I dissected several of those Fe∣males, and this I have always found to be true by the Experience of many Years. Now when after frequent Tryals, I still met with nothing in the Cavity of the Womb, I began at first to dou•…•…t, whether the Seed of the Man could by any man∣ner of way, either by injection or attracti∣on, enter the Place of Conception. And at length often repeated Inspection con∣firm'd me in the Opinion, that nothing of Seed ever reached those Places.

And from hence at last he concludes that the mans Seed neither contain'd in it self the active Power of Forming, nor was the matter out of which the thing was to be form'd; nor that it en∣tered the Womb, or was therein de∣tain'd: And that he might describe the Principle and Subject of Conception, he flies to Quality without Matter, to Spe∣cies without Subject, and an idle Con∣ception of the Womb without the Brain.

For, saith he, because there is nothing sensible to be found in the Womb after Conception, and yet there is a necessity that there should be something to inferti∣lize, and that cannot be Corporeal, it re∣mains that we have Recourse to meer Con∣ception, and Conception of Species without Matter, that no man may question but that the same thing happens here, which happens in the Brain.

And a little after, As we from the Conception of a form or Idea in the Brain, produce another like it in our Actions. So the Idea or Species of the Parent being in the Womb, by the assistance of the form∣ing Faculty begets a Birth resembling it, while he imprints upon his Work a Spe∣cies which he has in himself immortal.

And so he concludes that Conception is produced in the Womb by the re∣ceiving of Species's without, and that the Womb it self, while it stirs up the forming Faculty according to that Idea conceived in it self, is the principal Cause of Formation, whereas the whole Formation is accomplish'd in the Egg, both in and out of the prolifick Principle of the Seed; and the womb affords nothing but a convenient place and cherishing receptacle for the Seed.

XX. Now tho' Deusingius contra∣dicts* 1.863 Harvey, yet he seems to be in a great quandary, and shunning Charyb∣dis for fear of falling into Scylla, pro∣poses the Question quite otherwise than Harvey, but confirms his Opinion with no more solidity at all. For he writes that the Seed of the Male, be∣ing injected into the Privities of the Wo∣man, and as it were by infection, changes as well the accidental as substantial tem∣per of the womb and whole body, and confers such a disposition upon the body and the womb, by which it is wrought to the top of maturity, and impregnated, as Fruits are ripen'd by the Summers heat: So that tho' afterwards the whole mass of the Male Seed flow forth of the womb after Coition, or tho' the spirituous por∣tion also exhale into nothing, yet the spirituous substance of the Womans bo∣dy receives such an impression from the said temper, as the spirituous portion of the Man's Seed first made by vertue of its own proper nature. In which words the learned Man seems to ascribe to the Seed of Man in conception no other ef∣fect, than that it changes the disposition of the Woman and her womb, and con∣tributes to it an aptitude to form and find materials, but that the Seed of the Man after coition comes away again, as altogether useless: As if that change of temper, and preparation to maturity, were to be made in coition, so suddainly, and as it were at a jump, by the only in∣jection of the Male Seed; and that the Woman, not long before ripe for Man of her self, through the increase of her own proper heat, and of blood and spi∣rits, did not become fit for the generati∣on of eggs and conception, and that con∣ception did not in a short time happen after coition, but only upon a great and preceding preparation, and a long alte∣ration of the Womans whole body, caus'd by the frequent injection of the Man's Seed. Besides, the Comparison is ill, that the Seed of the Man should mature the Woman, as the Sun ripens the Fruit; because a Woman is not ma∣tur'd by the Man's Seed, but by her own inward heat, and so produces such Fruit, that is, her own Seed included in the Egg, to cherish and ferment the pro∣lific Principle separated from the Man's Seed, and infus'd into the Egg, and to set it at liberty; as also for the generating of the Tunicles and Membranes that enfold the Birth, and for the most pro∣per and convenient Nourishment of the new-form'd Birth.

XXI. So that Harvey's Inspections* 1.864 into the Conceptions of brute Animals, not only deluded himself but Deusin∣gius, Regius, and several other learn∣ed Men, who suffered themselves to be led astray before they had throughly examin'd the matter. I acknowledge my self to be an admirer of Harvey's Ex∣periments, and his extraordinary Inge∣nuity and Industry in the Dissection of Beasts, and give him great Credit; and I believe that in most Beasts dissected af∣ter Coition, he found no Seed in the Womb: Now it does not follow from thence, what he would infer, That the Seed in Coition does not enter the Womb, and that it comes away again presently after Coition, and yet Concep∣tion happens, and therefore that the Seed is useless in Conception. For that those Inspections of Harvey do not cer∣tainly prove that the Seed was not de∣tain'd in the Womb, when Conception was over, or at the time of conceiving: For tho' he never could find any Seed in the wombs of those Creatures, which he dissected, yet that concludes nothing of certainty, nor proves that those Beasts were impregnated, or that there would have been a Conception from former Coitions, had they been permitted lon∣ger

life. And certainly there are many Arguments that destroy both his Rea∣sons and the Arguments drawn from his Experiments.

XXII.

• 1. The Seed injected might* 1.865 come away again after Coition, either of its own accord, as happens in Wo∣men that do not conceive; or shogg'd out, and so there might be no Conception. For he himself writes, that Does and Hinds do copulate every day for a whole Month together, and therefore they ma∣ny times copulate in vain: after which vain Coition the Seed flows again out of the Womb: For generally those Crea∣tures conceive upon the last Copulation, especially those that bring forth but one at a time, because that after Conception they admit the Male no more. Now if Harvey in his Dissections did not light upon one of those Does which had not yet admitted the least conceiving Copu∣lation, or at least had not as yet con∣ceiv'd, 'twas no wonder he found no Seed in their Wombs, as being shaken out after Coition. Thus I remember a∣bout ten years ago, in the Company of several others, I saw a Mare, that as soon as the Horse had covered her, cast out the Seed again; but the Horse con∣tinuing to cover her for three or four days together, at length the last time she retain'd her Seed, and would not admit the Horse to cover her any more: So that if the Mare had been open'd the first or second day, there would have been no Seed found in her womb: But if she had been dissected after the last Coi∣tion, by which she conceiv'd, without doubt there would have been found Seed in her womb. And so would Harvey have found, had he light upon Does that had conceiv'd. For tho' in such a vast Herd of Deer several perhaps might have conceiv'd, it does not follow that he dissected those that were impregnated; altho' he might have accidentally fallen upon the one, as well as the other.
• 2. While those Creatures, after a long chace, are wearied, frightned, and at length kill'd, 'tis not to be wonder'd at, that tho' they should have conceiv'd two or three days before, if the Seed scarce yet melted should fall out of the womb, the Orifice being open'd, in that vast conturbation of Spirits, both before and after they are taken. For daily Ex∣perience tells us, that many Women upon terrible Frights, have not only cast forth the Seed conceived, but even the Birth it self already form'd.
• 3. If Bitches, Conies, and other Crea∣tures urine and dung while they are kil∣ling, for fear of death; nay, if the fear of punishment only work the same effects upon some, no wonder that the Females of those Creatures, a few days or hours after Coition, should shed their conceiv'd Seed out of their wombs, while they are killing, and so that no Seed should be found in their wombs.
• 4. The Seed included in the womb, to the end that something may be produc'd out of it, undergoes a great alteration in the womb; nor does it altogether re∣tain that form of substance which it had when it was first injected; and so per∣haps Harvey did not believe it to be Seed, either being already melted, or else ima∣gining it was not there, because so lit∣tle.

XXIII. From what has been said,* 1.866 it appears that Harvey's Experiments cannot prove those things which he la∣bours to maintain by them. And therefore it is not for any to suffer him∣self easily to be perswaded, that the Seed is of no use in Conception, but that it flows out again from the womb, either before or after Conception. And there∣fore I think there is more credit to be given to Galen in this particular, who being inform'd, as well by his own, as the Experiments of others, found the thing to be otherwise. Moreover, I do not believe we ought to deny our credit to rational Women themselves, who by speaking satisfie us, that in Women that conceive, the Seed does not flow forth out of the womb; of which dumb and irrational Creatures are not able to give any account. Lastly, I cannot think there is any credit to be given to the Speculations taken from the sole inspecti∣on into brute Beasts, there being little of certainty in 'em, as being explain'd and wrested, rather according to the preconceived Opinion of the Inspecter, than according to Truth.

More than all this, Harvey himself writes, that about the eighteenth, or at most the twentieth day of November, he has seen, sometimes in the right, and sometimes in the left Horn of a Does womb, a transparent colliquated matter, and crystalline, contain'd within its own proper Tunicle, and in the middle bloody Fibres, and a jumping point. Which Matter, since it was not rain'd down from Heaven, I would sain know what else it could be, but the Seed of the Fe∣male inclos'd in the Egg, together with the jumping point, and increas'd by the

mass of the dissolv'd Masculine Seed, en∣compassed with the Chorion and Amnion? Now that he did not find the same Mat∣ter in many others, no question the Rea∣son was, because he seldom lighted upon those Creatures that had conceiv'd.

XXIV. And therefore there is no* 1.867 doubt to be made, but that the Seed after Conception, neither flows again out of the womb, neither is it, accord∣ing to Aristotle, rarified into Spirit, and dissipated, or that it vanishes any other way, but that it is detain'd with∣in the womb, and thus with that, toge∣ther with that other Seed contain'd in the Womans Egg, the Birth is first of all both cherish'd and nourish'd.

XXV. In the mean time I would* 1.868 not have any man think that I propound things absurd, while I affirm that the Birth is delineated and form'd out of the Seed, and in the beginning by the same Seed is also nourished; and so one and the same Seed serves for two several uses. For in the Seed there are two distinct parts; some spi∣rituous, out of which the Birth is de∣lineated and form'd; others thicker and less spirituous, from whence is ta∣ken the next Matter requisite for the first nourishment of the form'd parts, their increase and greater perfection; yet the Birth can neither be form'd out of those, nor •…•…ish'd by them: For the same thing does not form and nourish, but divers parts of the same thing. The same thing happens in the Seed of Man, and all Creatures producing living Con∣ceptions, as in the Seed of a Plant, where∣in Theophrastes acknowledges two parts, one spirituous, upon which the prolific or procreating power depends; the other thicker, that nourishes the spirituous part, by vertue of which the Seed of the Plant springs forth, and casts out some leaves, tho' not set in the Earth, as containing in it self the Nourishment first re∣quir'd.

But now let us return to the Bub∣ble from whence the first Nourishment of the Embryo led us astray.

XXVI. That the first and sole foun∣dation* 1.869 of the Birth is wrought in this Bubble, out of the Crystalline humour contain'd therein, and surrounded with a peculiar invisible Pellicle, Hip∣pocrates has observ'd, by that time the Seed has been six days old: for he writes that he has seen the Internal Pel∣licle or little Skin, (that is the Bubble) whose innermost Liquor was transparent, out of the middle of which somewhat thin shot it self forth, which he thought to be the Navel.

XXVII. As to the time of Formation,* 1.870 there is some dispute about it among Physicians. Hippocrates tells us, that the Seed being receiv'd into the womb, ought to have some appearances upon the seventh day, and that if the A∣bortion thrown out within that time, be put into water, and diligently view'd, all the first foundations of all the parts may be manifestly discern'd therein. Others affirm this Formation of the parts not to be accomplish'd so soon as seven days, but after a longer time. Strato the Peripatetic, and Diocles Cari∣stius, by the report of Macrobius, in his Comment upon Scipio's Dream, asserted that the human figure was form'd with∣in five weeks, or about the thirty fifth day, to the Bigness of a Bee, yet not so, but that all the Members, and all the designed Lineaments of the whole Body appeared in that Epitome. Aristotle a∣verrs, that the little body of the Birth settles as it were in a little Membrane up∣on the fortieth day▪ which being broken, the Birth it self appears about the bigness of a large Emmet, with all the Mem∣bers distinct, and all other things, Geni∣tals and all. Which Opinion of Aristo∣tle may be easily reconciled with that of Hippocrates: For he computes from the time that the Seed was injected into the womb to the whole, and manifest by visible formation of the Birth. Which time he asserts to be in all forty days. Hippocrates begins his Computation from the time that the Birth begins to be form'd into Members; that is to say, af∣ter the Seed being first melted in the womb, and the prolific Principle being separated from it, and fall'n down to the Egg through the Tubes, and there col∣lected in the Bubble, (all which is done within the first days,) at length it begins to be dispers'd for the delineation of the Parts. Moreover, Aristotle describes the perfect and visible; Hippocrates the rude and scarce visible Formation of all the Parts: these requiring more, the other fewer days. Fernelius, agreeing with Aristotle, writes that he has seen a per∣fect Birth within the fortieth day; but does not tell us how big it was. Others more modern, say, they have observ'd it as big and as long as the little finger,

within that time, toward the end of the third Month, about a handful long, and toward the fifth about a foot long; which however does not seem to be very pro∣bable, when I have seen the contrary with my own eyes. But without que∣stion those Modern Authors were de∣ceived i•…•… this, that they did not under∣stand the exact beginning of the Con∣ception, as is apparent from the follow∣ing Histories of Abortive Births.

XXVIII. Harvey writes, that in a* 1.871 Female Conception as big as an Hen Egg, he found the Birth as long as a good big Bean, with a pretty big Head, which the Brain out-grew, like a kind of Comb; and that the Brain was like curdl'd Milk. Instead of a Scull there was a Membrane somewhat resembling Leather; and the Face appear'd shap'd like a Dogs, without any Nose to be seen.

XXIX. Some years since I had an* 1.872 opportunity to see an Abortion of a few weeks, upon which I made these Ob∣servations. The bigness of the Abor∣tion, together with the Membrane, was about the quantity of an Hen-egg. The Chorion loose, wrinkled, and somewhat rough and hairy without side, sprinkled with many very small Veins, all which met together at the top of it, to which there stuck a small, fleshie, long, shape∣less, and bloody Mass, from whence the said Veins seem'd to derive themselves. Furthermore, the same Chorion was ea∣sily separated from the Amnion, and that with a very slight handling, except in that part where the said little piece of flesh stuck. But within the Amnion a certain watery Dissolution, somewhat viscous, and plentiful enough. In the middle of which there swam a small Em∣bryo every way free, and no where stick∣ing to the Amnion. The Trunk of this Body was hardly so big as the half of a small Pea slit in two. At the top of which the Head was fasten'd to a most slender Neck, about as big as a silk Thread. The Head was very big in comparison of the Trunk, equalling the fourth part of the whole Trunk; where∣in black Eyes were very conspicuous; the Nose did not swell out, but in the place of it there appear'd a certain white Line. Nothing of the Ears was to be seen, as neither the Shape nor opening of the Mouth, only a small overthwart Line offered it self to view in the same place. Instead of a Scull, a thin Mem∣brane gi•…•…t the Brain, which shew'd like the diminutive white of an Egg. The Trunk did not seem distinguish'd into two Bellies, but seem'd to consist all of one Belly, and in the inner part of it cer∣tain small Bowels, covered with a thin transparent small Membrane, shew'd themselves, but so confusedly, that they could not be distinguish'd one from the other. A little below the middle of the Trunk a slender whitish small Branch issued forth, which was the Navel, but so short, that the length of it hardly ex∣ceeded half the breadth of a slender Straw. Moreover, there appear'd above, certain obscure delineations of the Arms; below, of the Thighs and Legs, in which the Fingers and Toes were on∣ly distinguish'd by small little Lines. This Woman, when she miscarried, thought her self to have been gone seven or eight weeks of her time.

XXX. Two years after that, ano∣ther* 1.873 Woman miscarried: the Aborti∣on was about the bigness of a small Hen-egg. Without a fleshie Particle stuck fast to the Membranes; out of which fleshie Particle, the Vessels of the Chorion deriv'd themselves, as I have observ'd in the preceding Abortion. But this was a little bigger, as being a∣bout the bigness of half a Nutmeg. The Chorion being open'd, no Liquor flow'd forth; for there was nothing contain'd between the two Membranes, nor could the Allantois or Urinary Tunicle be seen among 'em. Nevertheless the Chorion did not stick to the Amnion, but only was as it were placed upon it, and was ea∣sily separated from it, with little hand∣ling, unless where the little piece of flesh was joyn'd to it on the outer side, for there the Amnion was fasten'd to the Chorion. Within the Amnion the Dis∣solution was found to be moderate as to quantity, in the middle o•…•… 〈◊〉〈◊〉 I found a small Embryo, with a large Head in comparison of the whole, because that all the rest of the little Body seem'd to be three or four times bigger than the Head, which was no bigger than a small Pea, and joyn'd with a small neck about the thickness of three silk Threads twist∣ed together. In the hinder part of this lay the Brain, like a white Comb, and the whole Head was surrounded with a whole Skin, under which was the soft Brain stirr'd up like the white of an Egg. In the part before little black Eyes were apparently conspicuous, but no Ears ap∣pear'd. A white little Line mark'd out the Place for the Nose and Mouth. The

rest of the Body shew'd it self rudely de∣lineated into a Trunk and small Arteries; but was much more soft than in the fore∣going Abortment, like a thicker sort of Slime, that would not endure the least touch without suffering an Injury. Per∣chance this extraordinary softness pro∣ceeded from some Corruption, and be∣cause the Embryo had been dead for some time; for the Lady had been ill three or four weeks before she miscarried, not knowing she was with Child.

XXXI. In the Year 1663. in De∣cember,* 1.874 the same Lady again Mis∣carried, after her Husband thought she had been six weeks gone. The A∣bortment was about the bigness of a small Hen-egg. The fleshie Particle outwardly cleaving to the Membranes was much bigger than in the foregoing Abortments, extending it self half way the Chorion. Within the Membranes there was a sufficient quantity of dissolv'd Juice. Upon the dissolution swam the slender Embryo, about the bigness of a great Emet, where the Head, manifestly to be distinguish'd, appear'd fasten'd to the small Trunk, with two diminutive black little points, designing the place of the Eyes: The Trunk was somewhat bow'd like the Keel of a Boat, wherein some Bowels seem'd to appear, but so confusedly as not to be distinguish'd: and for Arteries, there were none visible. Besides this little Embryo, a little crystal Bubble still swam upon the same dis∣solv'd Juice, (such as I found in the foregoing Abortments together with the Embryo,) about the bigness of a small Filbird, of a most transparent colour, wherein I could not perceive any deli∣neations of the Embryo: perhaps out of this the Female Birth might be after∣wards delineated; which they say is la∣ter brought to perfection than the Male, and so the production of Twins might happen.

XXXII. Now if the Embryo in the* 1.875 eighth or ninth week be no bigger than a Pea or a Tare, and about the fortieth day be no bigger than a large Emet, cer∣tainly their demonstrations are to be accompted very ridiculous, who shewing some diminutive dry'd Abortments to be seen, endeavour'd to perswade their Spectators that one is the Conception of six or eight days, the other of thirteen days or a fortnight; when as they are much bigger than those by me seen and describ'd; and that it is altogether ve∣ry probable, that scarce any thing of the form'd Embryo can be discern'd by the Eye before the fortieth day. Be∣sides that, it is manifest from the first form'd Embryo, that the whole mass of the Male and Female Seed cannot be wasted in forming so small a Body, when out of the least drop of it such a small Body may be form'd as big as a large Emet: Therefore the rest of the mass, which flows not out of the womb, nor is wasted in forming the parts, cheris•…•…es and nourishes those parts soon after, and contributes to their growth. But because that residue of the Seed is soon consum'd presently, therefore a plentiful milkie Juice supplies its room, which then be∣gins to flow into the Amnion, and that plentifully when the Umbilical Vessels are grown to their due bulk.

XXXIII. From what has been said,* 1.876 it is apparently manifest, that the Birth is form'd, not of the whole mass of the Seed, but only of the most spirituous and thinnest part thereof, collected first like a transparent Crystal into a dimi∣nutive Bubble, as has been already said before.

And now what others have observed, and I my self have seen in reference to this Bubble, let us now in few words take notice.

XXXIV. Riolanus Animad vers.* 1.877 in Laurent. tit. de formato Foetu, sets down this Observation in reference to the Crystalline Bubble. Lately, says he, there was brought me the producti∣on of one Month, like a small Hens egg, so wrapt about with its Membranes; of which the outermost was, as it were, like small flocks, and very fibrous, the beginning and foundation of the Placenta. This Mem∣brane being slit, three little baggs were con∣spicuous within, contiguous one to another like little Clusters of Grapes. Within those Vessels was contain'd a transparent water: and in one of the Bladders which was the middlemost, was to be seen a little Body like an Emet, and a fine slender Thread pro∣duc'd from it. That little Body resembled a Birth without form, and not to be distin∣guish'd, as far as could be discern'd by the Eye, most nicely beholding that Miracle of Nature: But the ruddy Thread mark'd out the Navel.

XXXV. This Passage does not a* 1.878 little illustrate our understanding of the Bubble. But I except against one Error therein, arising from a pre∣conceived Opinion, that the Embryo

was forthwith nourish'd by the Navel: And I believe that Riolanus was ve∣ry much out as to that same Thread, which he alledges to be the Navel. For as it is apparent from our second preceding Relation, if in that Embryo seen by my self, newly broken forth from the Bubble, and narrowly inspected by my own Eyes, to which I give more cre∣dit than to the sayings of others; and then more perfectly form'd, the Navel scarcely swell'd out to the breadth of half a small Straw, nor any farther cast forth any Thread, how much less could the Navel▪thread be any farther extended from this same rude, undistinguishable, and scarcely begun Birth. Furthermore, at the beginning the parts are increas'd swifter or slower, according to the more or less necessity of their use. And in re∣gard that at the beginning there is as yet no necessity of their Use, in regard the Birth does not as yet want Umbili∣cal Blood, hence it comes to pass, that at the beginning it is extended to a con∣spicuous length, but afterwards by de∣grees grows out of the Birth; as we shall make appear Cap. 32.

XXXVI. The same Riolanus adds* 1.879 another Observation of the same Na∣ture, out of Carpus's Commentaries upon Mundinus, wherein Carpus ob∣serves three little Bubbles touching each other. So also Platerus, Quaest. Med. Quaest. 1. writes, that in an Abortion about the bigness of a Filbird, he found three little Bubbles within a thin Amnion, and be∣lieves them to be the Foundations of the three principal Parts, the Heart, Brain, and Liver. For my part I never saw so small an Abortion, about the bigness of a Filbird, nor ever read of any one be∣sides Platerus that ever saw such another. Besides, the Citations lately produced out of Hippocrates, Aristotle, and Riola∣nus teach us, that the Opinion of Pla∣terus cannot be true, from whence it is apparent that the Birth is wholly deli∣neated, form'd, and to be found in one Bubble only: In the other two Riolanus found a transparent Water▪ Carpus be∣lieves that Embryo's would have also been found in those Bubbles full of transparent Water, had they stay'd lon∣ger in the womb, but Female ones, which are later form'd. Which, according to the Experiments of Hippocrates and Ari∣stotle, in some measure seems probable. At least, this is most certain, that in and out of the transparent Liquor of one Bubble, the Birth is delineated and form'd. And therefore I am perswaded that three Bubbles, as those learned Per∣sons saw 'em, are very rarely to be seen, but that generally there is but one in the Conception, unless when a Woman conceives Twins, or three Children at a time; to which there must be added a fourth Bubble in Women that conceive more, like the Scotch-women, who fre∣quently conceive four at a time.

XXXVII. Now I am the more con∣firm'd* 1.880 in this Opinion, by an Aborti∣on that was brought to me at the same time that I was writing and inquiring into these things, by a noted Midwife, in which I found not Three, but only one Bubble surrounded with a thin Cobweb-like Membrane. This lay hid between a plentiful Seminal Colliquati∣on, which was watery, somewhat thick and viscous, wrapt about with two Mem∣branes, the Chorion and the Amnion, and swam at the top of it, free, and no where joyning to the Amnion. But to those external Membranes, in one very little part, there stuck without side, a certain small, fleshie, soft, formless, and bloody Mass, about the bigness of the twelfth part of the Abortion, which be∣ing somewhat endammaged in the outer∣most part of it, seem'd to have been torn from the Womb. The Bubble con∣tained a transparent Water, clear as Cry∣stal; wherein I could observe neither a∣ny blood, nor any thing else, unless it were some very small little Lines, hard∣ly discernable, which were without doubt the outside Lineaments of the Embryo. The Woman that thus miscarried, knew not that she had conceiv'd, but being struck with a suddain and more than or∣dinary dread, cast that Matter out of her womb without any pain, and little strain∣ing.

XXXVIII. About the same time I* 1.881 saw another very young Conception up∣on the Miscarriage of a Minister's Wife, wherein I found in like manner one only Bubble very transparent and Crystalline, about the bigness of a Fil∣bird, wherein there appear'd no little Lines, either bloody, white, or of any other Colour. To the exteriour Mem∣brane of that wrapt about the Colli∣quation, there stuck also very close, as in the former, a little fleshie and bloody Particle, endammaged without side, and as it were torn from the womb. From this most tender little Mass, I apparently observ'd certain Blood-bearing little

Vessels to derive themselves and to spread themselves very numerously tho∣rough the Chorion. But in the inner part of the Amnion, besides the seminal watry Colliquation, upon which the Bubble swam, I could not observe any thing bloody, nor any small Vessels in the Substance of it. These two Mem∣branes were easily to be separated one from the other, neither was there any Liquor contained between 'em.

XXXIX. The Magnitude of these* 1.882 two Abortions, the foregoing and this, was about the bigness of a Hen-Egg, and their Membranes contained more of the Colliquation than half an Egg∣shell would hold; which in regard it could not altogether with the Bubble proceed from the mans Seed, of ne∣cessity the womans Seed must be mix∣ed with it, tho' the Bubble without all Question sprang solely out of the mans Seed.

XL. Taught by these two Experi∣ments,* 1.883 I am apt to believe, that there is but only one Bubble in the Concep∣tion generally, and seldome any more, unless when more Births are to be form'd. But tho' hitherto I never saw any more, yet I am loth to contradict the Experience of Riolanus, Carpus, and Platerus, or to doubt of the Truth of it: And perhaps it may be my Chance to see more at another time.

XLI. In the Formation of the* 1.884 Birth, the more curious Question yet remains; which Parts of the Body are form'd in the first place, which in the second, which in the third, and which in the last Place. Aristot. l. de Invent. Writes that the Heart of Creatures endued with Blood is the first generated, which he observ'd in Eggs, after the Hen had sate three Days and as many Nights, as he asserts l. 6. de hist. Animal. Ent is of Aristotle's Opini∣on, believing the Heart first to be form'd, and to be the efficient Cause of the forming the rest of the Parts. The Seed, says he, emitted in Copulation into the Womb by the Male, constitutes only the Heart in Conception; for no part of the Creature consists of Seed besides the Heart. And in another place, he says, That the Heart moves not only after the Birth is form'd, but also from the Beginning, and is the efficient, not the material Cause of the Formation. With Ent seems Regi∣us to agree, l. 4. Philos. Natur. Others believe the Brain, others the Liver, o∣thers that they are all three form'd to∣gether; and afterwards the Guts, the Spleen, and Lungs. And this is the O∣pinion of Galen, l. 4. de Usu Partium, which many follow. The Humour, says he, that smears the inner Surface of the Womb, is turn'd into a Membrane, wherein the forming Spirit being every way enclosed, puts forth its natural Mo∣tions, procreating three Points, answering to the three principal Parts, which being swell'd and distended by the Violence of the Heat, form their Bellies, the Heart, the Breast, the Brain, the Head, the Liver, the Abdomen. Then the other Parts are delineated and form'd together, and then by degrees flows the thin Blood to their Nourishment. Others with Bauhinus, be∣lieve the umbilical Vessels to be first produced, as being chiefly and first of all necessary in respect of Nourishment. Others affirm the Bones to be first form'd, as being the Basis and necessary Foun∣dation of the whole Body. And thus one judges one way, another another way, of a thing so obscure. But who, I would fain know survey'd Nature at her work, that he should be able to know all these things so exactly? If the Embryo in forty days be no bigger than an Emmet, how small must it be upon the thirtieth Day? within which time ne∣vertheless all the Delineations are per∣fect, tho' not discernable to our Eyes. Who in that small Body shall deter∣mine which Part is formed first, which in the second, and which in the last Place? These are Mysteries which the sublime Creator thought fit to conceal from our Understanding: so that if we make any farther Inquiry into 'em, Galen will reprehend us. If thou inqut∣rest, says he, over nicely how these things are made, thou wilt be convinced that thou understand'st neither thy own Weak∣ness, nor the Omnipotency of the Work∣master.

XLII. In the mean time, if it be* 1.885 lawful in a Matter so obscure to make any Conjectures, I believe that all the solid Parts are delineated and form'd together, because they do not mutual∣ly depend one upon another, but are all the immediate Works of Nature. Moreover one cannot be, or act with∣out the other: A Body cannot be without a more solid Foundation, which is afterwards to be Bony. The Heart cannot act without Veins and Arteries, nor the Brain without

Nerves, nor the Stomach without Guts, &c. For there is no reason why one Part should be form'd be∣fore another. In the foresaid Bubble the Matter is contain'd which is proper for the Generation of all the Parts, which wants no farther Preparation; and the Architectonic Spirit may equally delineate and form at the same time all the Parts out of the same matter. And wherefore should it form the Heart, as Ent would have it, sooner than the other Parts? To prepare Matter for the Ge∣neration of the rest? That's done alrea∣dy. Certainly it cannot be said that the Heart generates and forms other Parts, when it only prepares Matter for the Nourishment and Growth of the whole, from which not their Generation pro∣ceeds, but their greater Perfection be∣ing generated to perform their several Offices. For if the Heart at the begin∣ning should generate other Parts, why does it not produce new Parts after the Birth of the Infant, when it is stronger, and operates more powerfully? That it prepares Nourishment for all the Parts after the Child is born, is confessed by all, why should it not do the same at the beginning? Shall it have any other Action assigned it at this, than at ano∣ther time. But you will say the Heart is first of all conspicuous, the rest of the Bowels and all the other Parts appear later, and therefore is first form'd. Now who can discern in an Embryo, at the be∣ginning, no bigger than an Emmet, what Parts are already form'd with the beating Heart? Which tho' it be the defect of our Sight, yet Reason suffici∣ently teaches us, that all the Parts are delineated together, since the Harmony of all together is so great and so neces∣sary, that they cannot subsist or act one without another. And indeed it seems but probable that the forming Spirits contain'd in the Bubble, and beginning the Formation of all the Parts more vi∣gorously perform their Work, and more speedily strengthen and perfect all Parts already delineated, after they are at more Liberty from the thicker Colli∣quation, as being assisted by the Heat of the Heart, excited and kindled by a particular Fermentation: But certain it is, that before that Assistance they began the Formation of all and singular the Parts: Of which, tho' such and such first appear, in the forming whereof most Spirits were employ'd, and of which there is the greatest Necessity for their Use, however this does not exclude the De∣lineation of the rest of the Parts, which our Sight cannot discern.

XLIII. Here if any one will object* 1.886 that perhaps the spermatick Parts are delineated together, but that the bloo∣dy Parts are afterwards of necessity to be produc'd. I answer, that when we speak of the Formation of the Parts, we speak of the first Delinea∣tions, or Out-lines of all the Parts, and all those we say are form'd out of the Seed alone; into which the bloo∣dy Nutriment is afterwards infused, by which they acquire a greater Bulk and Bigness. Yet in the mean time there is no bloody part in the whole Body, which is not intermixed with sper∣matic Threads: and so no part can tru∣ly be said to be form'd out of the Blood, and to subsist without a spermatic Foun∣dation. This was the ancient Opinion of Hippocrates. All the Members, says he, are discerned and augmented together, not one before or after another: only those that are naturally bigger, are seen before the other, tho' they were not form'd be∣fore. And in another place, There is not in my Opinion, any beginning of the Body; but all the Parts seem equally to be both beginning and end together. For the Circle being drawn, there is no end to be found.

Now what Parts are first visible, how the order of Formation proceeds gra∣dually, as far as the Eye can discern, is elegantly described by Harvey, Tract. de generat. Animal. whom the Reader may do well to consult, together with Antony Everard in his Lib. de Ortu Ani∣mal.

XLIV. But now seeing the form'd* 1.887 Parts came once to associate to them∣selves, and assimilate the Nourishment brought 'em, and so begin to grow by Nutrition; seeing the Heart also be∣gins its natural Action of Sanguifica∣tion from its smallest Point or Be∣ginning: Some more curiously inquire; whether the Brain, which is very soft in the Embryo, makes animal Spirits, and by their Assistance performs ani∣mal Actions. I answer, That as the Actions of many parts are idle at first, as of the Lungs, Eyes, Ears, Teeth, and Stones, &c. Of which there is no absolute Necessity at the Beginning; so the Actions of the Brain, Liver, and Spleen being more necessary, be∣gin

at the Beginning, but so weakly, by reason of the Infirmity of the Or∣gans, that they cannot be discern'd. But by degrees the more perfect they grow, the more perceptible they are. And hence it is probable that the Brain at the beginning may begin to make a∣nimal Spirits, but very few and very weak, because there is less need of 'em at the beginning: But the stronger the Brain grows, and the more need of Spi∣rits there is, the stronger and more vigo∣rous Spirits it makes. As is apparent by that time a woman has gone half her time, when the Child begins to stir, which Motion cannot be perform'd with∣out those more plentiful Spirits. And from that time the Brain is so corrobo∣rated, that at length it begets more plen∣tiful and vigorous Spirits fit to perform the chiefest animal Actions. Which prin∣cipal Actions however are idle in the Birth inclosed in the Womb, where there is no occasion or necessity of Ima∣gination, Thought, or Memory: But the Infant being born; the Brain increa∣sing in Strength, begets more vigorous and efficacious Spirits. Therefore Chil∣dren as they are weaker of Body, so are they weaker in their Intellectuals: Be∣cause the Faculties of the Soul do not well perform their Offices till the Organs are perfect; only the Feeling and mo∣ving Faculties begin to act from the time of the Childs quickning. For from that time the Motion of the Infant is peceived by the Mother, and the Birth sympathizes with the Mothers Pains. Which Cardanus proves by pouring cold water upon the Belly of the Mother, for thereby the Infant will beforc'd to move in the womb, and by that means he tries whether women with Child are quick or no.

XLV. I shall here add one thing* 1.888 more, which is controverted among the Philosophers whether the Infant wakes and sleeps in the Womb? A∣vicen utterly denies any such thing. However Women with Child will tell ye, that they manifestly feel the Mo∣tion of the Child when it is awake, and the resting of it when it sleeps. But we are to say that Sleep is the Rest of the Senses for the repairing and re∣newing the animal Spirits wasted by watching, occasioned by the Contracti∣on of the Pores and Passages of the Brain. On the contrary that Wakeful∣ness is a convenient opening of the Pores of the Brain, and flowing in of the ani∣mal Spirits through them into the Or∣gans of the Senses, sufficient for the performance of their Actions. But nei∣ther of these can be said to belong to the birth included in the womb. For First; the Spirits are not wasted, but only few, and those weak are made, and therefore the Rest, which is in the Infant unborn, cannot be call'd Sleep, because it pro∣ceeds not from the Causes of Sleep, that is to say, the wast of the Spirits, and the Contraction of the Pores of the brain, nor has it the end of Sleep, which is the Restoration of decay'd and wasted Spi∣rits. Secondly, The Motion of the In∣fant cannot be said to be waking, be∣cause it wants the true Causes of waking, which is the opening of the Pores of the brain, and an Influx of Spirits into the Organs of Sense, sufficient to perform the Actions of the Senses. The first can∣not be, by reason of the extream Moi∣sture and Softness of the brain: Nor the latter, by reason there is not as yet generated a sufficient Quantity of Spirits. Moreover the Motion and Feeling of the Infant does not presuppose a necessity of waking: For that men grown up, and matur'd by age, when fast asleep many times tumble and toss in their Sleep, and sometimes walk and talk, and being prick'd feel and contract their injured Members, and yet never wake. There∣fore we must conclude that the Infant in the womb cannot be truly said to sleep or wake, but only sometimes to rest and sometimes to be mov'd.

XLVI. Here perhaps by way of a* 1.889 Corollary some one may ask me, what is that same Architectonic Vertue la∣tent in the prolific Seed which per∣forms the Formation of the Parts? In the foregoing Chapter we have dis∣coursed at large concerning the enli∣vening Spirit implanted in the Prolific Seed, as it is the Subject of the first forming Spirit; but because no Spirit of it self and by its own Power, seems able to perfect Generation, unless it have in its self some effective Principle, by virtue whereof it produces that Effect; hence the Question arises what that is that af∣fords that active Force to the Spirit, and power to form a living body, and en∣dues the Matter with all manner of Per∣fection, and produces Order, Figure, Growth, Number, Situation, and those other things which are observed in li∣ving bodies? Which is a thing hitherto unknown, and has held the Minds of all Philosophers in deep Suspense. Of whom the greatest part have rather chosen ta∣citly

to admire the Supream Operator and his work, than to unfold him, and so affirm with Lactantius, That Man contributes nothing to his Birth but the Matter, which is the Seed, but that all the rest is the handy work of God, the Concep∣tion, the forming of the Body, the inspira∣tion of the Soul, and the conservation of the Parts. In which sense, says Harvey, most truly and piously does he believe, who deduces the Generations of all things from the same Eternal and Omnipotent Deity; upon whose pleasure depends the Universa∣lity of the things themselves. But others, who believe that the Bounds of Nature are not so slightly to be skipped over, nor think that in the Inquiries after the Principles of Generation, there is such a necessity to have recourse to the first Architect and Governour of the whole Universe, but that the first forming and efficient Cause created by God, with the Things themselves, and infus'd and planted within 'em, is to be sought out of the Things themselves, more arro∣gantly have presum'd to give us a clear∣er Explication of the Matter by Philo∣sophical Reason, yet differing in their Opinions, which are various and ma∣nifold.

XLVII. For Galen calls this Ar∣chitectonic* 1.890 Power, sometimes by the name of Nature; sometimes Natural Heat, sometimes the Inbred Tempe∣rament, sometimes the Spirit, which he affirms to be a Substance of it self moveable, and always moveable. Ari∣stotle distinguishing between the Heat or Spirit of the Seed and Nature; asserts the Artichectonic Power to be that Nature which is in the Spirit of the Seed; and therefore distinct from the Spirit it self, which is inherent in the Spirit as in its Subject, and acts upon the Spirit as its Matter. This Nature in the Spirit of the Seed was also acknowledged by Hippocrates; saying, That it is learned, tho' it has not learnt rightly to act. Not that it is Rational, but because, as Galen explains it, it acts of it self all that is necessary to be acted, without any direction. Hence Deusingius defines it to be a certain immaterial Sub∣stance arising out of the Matter so deter∣min'd to the Matter by the Supream God, that it can neither be, nor subsist, nor ope∣rate without it.

This same Architectonic Vertue, o∣thers, with Avicen, call the Intelligence; others, with Averrhoes and Scotus, a Coe∣lestial Force, or a Divine Efficacy. Ia∣cob Scheggius calls it 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, o•…•… 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, active or forming Reason; and says that by the word Reason, or 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉; he understands a Substantial Form, which is not to be apprehended by Sense, but by the Understanding and Reason. And so while he seems to speak something, he says nothing at all.

XLVIII. The Platonics call it a* 1.891 General Soul diffus'd through the whole World, which according to the diversity of Materials and Seeds, pro∣duces various Generations; as a Plant from the Seed of a Plant, a Man from the Seed of a Man, a Horse from that of a Horse, a Fish from that of a* 1.892 Fish, &c. But Plotin, the great Plato∣nist, distinguishes this same Architecto∣nic Vertue from the Platonic Soul of the World, as produc'd from that by which it is produc'd: and therefore he calls it Nature flowing from the Soul of the World; which he says is the Essential Act of it, and the Life depending upon it. Themistius says; that the forming Power is the Soul inclos'd in the Seed, po∣tentially enliven'd. Deusingius, in his Original of the Soul, calls it Nature in the Seed; that is, as he explains himself, a Soul potentially subsisting in the Seed, be∣ing in it self the Beginning and Cause of Motion: But in a Body already form'd, he calls it the Soul actually subsisting. And so without any necessity at all, distin∣guishes one and the same thing into two, and gives it two distinct names, as it ei∣ther rests or acts, and according to the diversity of the Subject to be form'd, or else already form'd. Just as if a man distinguishing between a Painter lazily sleeping, or painting awake, should call the one, Nature latent in his Spirit, as one that could paint if he were awake; and the other a real Painter, as one actually painting: as if the Painter that slept were not as much a Painter, as he that actual∣ly painted. Whereas, as it appears by the Effects, that which is able to form a Body at first out of the Seed, and that which actually forms, were not one and the same thing: and so by a certain continuation the form of the thing formed remains. This Opinion of his Deusingius seems to have drawn from the Institutes of the Platonists; who di∣stinguish between the Soul, and Being a Soul, that is, between the Substance of the Soul, which is said to be in the Seed, and the Appellation of Nature, and the Soul which acts at this pr•…•…sent, and is the form of the form'd Body. Fernelius calls the Plastic Power a Spirit; but he does

not mean such a common Spirit, which the Physicians say is rais'd by the prepa∣rations of the Bowels out of the Hu∣mours; but some other Spirit of far sub∣limer Excellency: For, says he, this Spi∣rit is an Ethereal Body, the Seat and Bond of Heat and the Faculties, and the first In∣strument of the Duty to be perform'd. And Lib. 2. de Abdit. c. 10. he believes it to be something that flows down from Hea∣ven: For, says he, the Heaven without a∣ny Seed produces many, both Creatures and Plants, but the Seed generates nothing without the Heaven. The Seed only pre∣pares aptly and conveniently Materials for the begetting of Things; the Heaven sends into the Matter prepar'd Form, and con∣summate Perfection, and raises Life in all Things. A little after he adds, One Form of Heaven within its Power comprehends all the Forms that ever were or can be of all Creatures, Plants, Stones, and Metals, and impregnated with those innumerable Forms, casts as in a Mold, and generates all things out of it self.

XLIX. Others believe the Plastic* 1.893 Vertue to be a certain Power flowing into the Seed from the Soul of the Mo∣ther. Others call it a Vegetative Soul; and make no distinction between this and Nature; but say that Fertile Seed of necessity must be enlivened. This Soul of the Seed Iulius Scaliger and Ludovicus Mercatus stiffly defend. And Sennertus following their footsteps, Institut. Med. lib. 1. cap. 10. has these words: They seem all to me to be in an Error, who deny the Soul, which is the Cause of Formation, to be in the Seed: For if you grant the forming power to be in the Seed, you must allow the Soul to be likewise in it. For in regard the Powers are not separable from the Soul, of which they are the Powers, it is impossible that the Powers proper to any thing should be in a Subject, wherein the Form is not from whence the Power slows. And since we come to the know∣ledge of the latent Essence by the Operations, what's the reason we do not attribute a Soul to the Seed, that sufficiently manifests it self therein by its Operations. But they are two: the enlivening of the Seed and the Con∣ception; and the forming of all the parts that are necessary for the Actions of Life. For every Soul, as is manifest in the Seed of Plants, is preserv'd while the Soul is in it, and remains prolific for some time; and while it is sound and uncorrupted, in a proper place, and with convenient Nou∣rishment, operates as living, and exercises its operations upon the matter at hand; which is not only to be seen in some Crea∣tures by the Action it self, but in the rege∣nerating of some parts, especially in Plants. For the same Operations are observ'd in the Seed, and in Plants sound in all their parts, which shew the same Agent in both. For it is altogether the same Operation whereby the Soul latent in the Seed forms the Body of the Plant out of the Matter at∣tracted, and afterwards every year restores the fallen Leaves and gather'd Flowers, and thrusts out new Branches and new Roots; and therefore it is a sign and Argument of the same Faculty, and of the same Soul. And this not only in Plants, but also in the Seeds of perfect Creatures, must of necessi∣ty be allow'd to be done: For as the Flesh is not made out of Blood, unless the Flesh it self enliven'd change the Blood into Flesh, much less shall a Creature be made of Seed, if the Seed want a Soul. And a little af∣ter he adds; For the Body of Creatures be∣ing the most excellent and perfect, it follows that what is not enlivened cannot be the principal Cause of the enlivened Body, but that the Body enlivened is produced by a Body enlivened as the principal Cause. And certainly these Arguments of Sen∣nertus are of great weight to prove that there is a Vegetative Soul in all generated Bodies: which is also stiffly maintain'd by Deusingius, De Gener. Foet. in Utero, part. 2. sect. 1.

L. But because a Doubt may here* 1.894 arise, from whence the Seed has this Soul, it will not be amiss to add some∣thing for the clearer illustration and confirmation of the said Opinion. We must know then that▪ all and singular the parts of a living animated Body, ought to participate of that Soul, and to live by it; and hence that which is separated to the perfection of the Seed out of the several parts, ought also to participate of the same Soul, which is also to inter∣mix with the Mass of the Seed. And because out of all and every part, some∣thing of most spirituous parts, like A∣toms, is allow'd to the making and per∣fection of the Seed; hence it comes to pass, that the Epitome of the whole anima∣ted Body endu'd with the like Soul, is contain'd in the Seed: and that Soul, the Seed being deposited in a convenient place, is separated from the thicker parts of the Seed, by the Heat, with that same Matter of the Seed wherein it inheres, that is to say, the most spirituous part divided from all and every the other parts, and rows'd into Action, and so throughout forms a resemblance to that form which is separated together with

that same subtile part of the Seed; un∣less prevented and hinder'd in its Opera∣tion, or that it be extinguish'd and suffo∣cated by any defect of the Heat or cir∣cumfus'd Matter.

LI. But it may be objected, That* 1.895 the Forms of animated Beings are in∣divisible, and hence that no parts of the Soul can be separated from the sin∣gle parts, but that those parts meeting together in the Seed, constitute the whole and entire Soul: To which I answer; That the Forms of animated Beings are not of themselves divisible; however they may be divided according to the division of the Matter, so that the Matter be such, wherein the Soul can commodiously lye hid, and out of which it may be rais'd again to its du∣ty, by the natural Heat temper'd to a convenient degree. This is apparent to the Eye in a Willow, wherein any Bough being torn off from the Tree, the Soul is divided according to the division of the Matter, and as it remains in the Tree it self, so likewise in the Bough; as appears by its Operation. For that Bough being planted in a moist Ground, the present Soul acts in it forthwith, and produces Leaves, Roots, and Boughs, and the Mother Tree it self shews no less the presence of the Soul in it self by the same Operations. So likewise in Creatures, that same spirituous Essence which is separated from all the several living parts to be carried to the Seed, participates of the same Soul of the parts out of which it is separated, as being a∣ble to afford a convenient Domicil for the Soul, (seeing that where such a Do∣micil cannot be afforded, the living Soul fails) and so being mix'd with the Seed, it causes the Seed to be potentially anima∣ted, if the substance of the Seed be right∣ly tempered; which Soul, potentially lying hid therein, the Seed being deposi∣ted in a convenient place, being after∣wards freed from the Fetters of the thicker Substance wherein it is enclos'd, is rais'd into Action; and acting forms out of the Subject wherein it inheres, like parts to those out of which the Separati∣on was made, as being of the same Spe∣cies with the Soul out of which it was se∣parated.

LII. And therefore when it is said* 1.896 by Aristotle, and other Philosophers, That the Soul lies hid potentially only in the Seed; this is not to be under∣stood, as if the Essence of the Soul were not present, but in reference to its being intangled in the other thicker Matter of the Seed, so that it cannot act till disintangled from it, the Seed being deposited in some convenient place, by the Heat which dissolves the said Matter; but so separated, it acts forthwith: and out of its spirituous Subject separated from the parts of the Creature, delineates and forms what is to be form'd, and increases it with the next adjacent Nutriment. For the Seed being of the number of Effici∣ents, and seeing every Agent acts, not as it is potentially but actually such, it must not be denied but that the Soul is actu∣ally in the Seed, tho' by reason of the Impediments its Action does not present∣ly appear.

LIII. But here it may be question'd,* 1.897 Whether that Soul which forms the Birth be only in the Man's Seed, or as well in the Womans? I say that it is only in the Man's Seed: for if part of the Soul should proceed from the Man, part from the Woman, then the Soul would prove a compound thing, whereas it is meerly simple. Or if it should be deriv'd all from the Male, and all from the Woman, then there would be two Principles of Formation, of which one would be superfluous. For there would be no necessity that the act∣ing Principle of the Male should be joyn∣ed with the acting Principle of the Fe∣male; for that the latter having an act∣ing Principle in it self, and a place con∣venient, as the womb, convenient nou∣rishment, and all other things conveni∣ent, would not want any other efficient Principle of the Male, but might con∣ceive in it self, and form the Birth out of its animated Seed with the Coition of the Male. And in Creatures that lay Eggs, a Chicken might be hatch'd out of Wind-eggs without the Cock's tread∣ing. Neither of which were ever heard of.

LIV. Aemilius Parisanus, tho' he* 1.898 understood not this Mystery exactly, yet seems to have observ'd something obscurely, and therefore he constitutes a twofold Seed; he had better have said, twofold parts of the Seed: one generated in the Genital Parts, which he denies to be animated; the other not ge∣nerated in the Genital Parts, but divided from the whole, which he allows to be animated.

LV. Others, who will not allow in* 1.899 Mankind any other Soul particularly than the Rational, assert that That a∣lone perfects the Lineaments of all the Parts out of the Seminal Matter con∣veniently offer'd, and is the Architect of its own Habitation; and stiffly up∣hold their Opinion with several Argu∣ments, and so tacitly endeavour to maintain that the Rational Soul is* 1.900 ex traduce, or by Propagation, no otherwise than as the Body is propaga∣ted. Concerning which may be read that most acute Tractate of the Genera∣tion of Living Creatures, written by Sen∣nertus.

LVI. But these Principles most Philosophers, and all Divines oppose with great heat, and affirm the Ratio∣nal Soul not to be propagated, but to be created and infused. To whose Opi∣nion we readily submit; because the Soul is not of that nature that it can produce any thing of it self; it has no∣thing to do in the Formation of the Body, nor with any Natural Actions, it is not to be divided into parts, nor corruptible as the rest of the Body, but immutable, and separable from the Bo∣dy which it inspires. Besides that, it is not created like the Bodies of Creatures, which were commanded to be produced out of Earth and Water, according to their kind, wherein the Vegetative Soul of every one is included: but after the whole Body of Man was form'd alive out of the Earth, God is said to have breathed into him the Breath of Life, and then he became a living Creature. Whence it is manifestly apparent, that the Rational Soul of Man, inspired by God, was not form'd out of Earth, Wa∣ter, or any other corruptible Matter, like his corruptible Body, which was form'd out of Clay, before the breathing of his Soul into him: But that it pro∣ceeded incorruptible and simple from the immediate Operation of God, without any parts, by the separation of which it could be dissolv'd and dye, as the Bo∣dy for the same Reason perishes with its vegetable Soul; and subsists of it self when its Temporal Habitation is fallen. For which Reason Man is not only said to live Naturally, like other Creatures, but after the Image of God, which sort of living is not ascrib'd to any other Creatures.

LVII. But these latter, tho' they* 1.901 seem to discourse rightly and truly of the Creation and Infusion of the Ratio∣nal Soul, yet if they do not likewise admit a Vegetative Soul in Man, they are under a gross mistake, nor do they unfold the first Efficient Principle, con∣cerning the Explanation of which the Question is here, and not of the Ori∣ginal of the Rational Soul. Against those therefore that will not admit a Vegetative Soul in Man, I bring these two powerful Arguments.

First, Seeing that the Rational Soul is not propagated by Generation, but Created, of necessity it must be infus'd, and that either into a living or a dead Body. Not into a dead Body, for that Soul cannot inhabit a dead Body, nor enliven it, for its life is different from the life of the Body; which perishes while the Soul departs out of the Body, and lives to perpetuity: Therefore it is in∣fus'd into a living Body: What then rais'd Life in the Body before the Infu∣sion of the Rational Soul? It will be said perhaps, That at the same time that the Parts are to be delineated, the Rational Soul is infus'd, and that it is which in∣troduces Life▪ and is Life it self. I an∣swer, Not when they are to be delinea∣ted, but after all the Parts are compleat∣ly delineated and form'd, then the Ra∣tional Soul is infus'd, according to the Testimony of the Scripture it self: where it is said that God first form'd Man out of the Dust of the Earth; (observe the word Man, therefore a living Creature, or a Creature endued with a Vegetative Soul;) and then inspired into him the Breath of Life, and he became a living Creature; as much as to say, that then was inspired into him his perpetual li∣ving and Immortal Soul. Therefore▪ as then, so also afterwards the Rational Soul does not form and enliven the Bo∣dy, but is infus'd into the Body form'd and living: I say living, for that which forms the Body, of necessity enlivens it, and lives it self: For such a wonderful Structure cannot be form'd by a dead thing; nor by Heat alone, which only serves to attenuate and melt the Sub∣stance of the Seed, and rowse and set at liberty the forming Spirit, lying hid and entangled within it, and excite it to acti∣on, not able of it self to form the Parts of the Body, nor to adjust the order and shape of all its Parts. And therefore it is not the Rational Soul, but this same enlivening Spirit (which Galen calls Na∣ture,

we the Vegetative Soul) rais'd out of the Seed it self wherein it is potential∣ly, is that which out of it self, and the Subject wherein it abides, and out of which it proceeded, forms and enlivens the Body, and all its agreeing Parts; in∣to which being form'd and living, the Rational Soul is afterwards infus'd, and united to it, to determine and temper the Motions of the Corporeal Soul, till the Body, proving at length unfit to en∣tertain it any longer, it departs out of it; not being the occasion of Death, of it self, but chas'd and expell'd from its Habitatation by the death of the Body: So no way guilty of the death of the Bo∣dy by its recess, as by its access it contri∣buted nothing to its life. This is appa∣rent from hence, for that the Immortal Soul cannot give Mortal Life, of which it is destitute it self, to a Body corrupti∣ble and separable from it. For what∣ever gives a living Form to a Body, that also gives a Life and Form like to it self, as is apparent in all Brutes and Plants: Therefore if the Rational Soul were to give a Form to the Body, it would of necessity give an Immortal Form like its own, such a one as is not in the Bo∣dy.

LVIII. Moreover, it is hardly to* 1.902 be believ'd, that when the Parts came first to be delineated, that the Rational Soul should be present at that beginning a•…•… the first Agent; and more impro∣bable to be believed, that when the Embryo first delineated is cast out of the womb by▪ Abortion, no bigger than an Emmet or a small Pea, from a Bo∣dy hardly discernable, a Rational Soul should be cast forth at the same time, that should be liable to give an account of Good and Evil Actions at the last * 1.903 Day, or else to perish with it.

Nor is it for us to judge of heavenly Matters above the reach of our Under∣standings, especially of the time of the Infusion of this Rational Soul: Though they seem to determine something pro∣bable concerning it, who judging right∣ly according to Truth, that the Ratio∣nal Soul is created by God 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, or im∣mediately, assert with St. Austin, That the Soul is infus'd by Creation, and crea∣ted by Infusion: that is, that it was not first fram'd in Heaven to be sent into the form'd Body; but that it is united to the Body at the moment of Creation, and created at the very moment of Infusion. But whether that Creation and Associa∣tion happens at the beginning of the forming of the Body, or whether in the first, second, third, or fourth Month, or in any other Month after the Birth be∣gan to be form'd; or at what time the Body may be fit to receive the Soul; that is not our business so accurately to en∣quire into; for that the Body must be fit to receive the Soul, and that if the Body undergo any material Change of its Temperament and Confirmation, presently the Soul takes its flight, as Ga∣len acknowledges. But our Apprehensi∣on is not sufficiently perspicacious for us punctually to understand that precise time, which is only known to God the Creator of the Soul: and therefore says Willis, When all things were rightly di∣spos'd for its reception, it was created im∣mediately of God, and pour'd into the Bo∣dy: And therefore it is only for Philo∣sophers to inquire into the Original of that same perishing Life in the body of Man, which is the Habitacle of the Ra∣tional Soul in this Vale of Misery for a Time; which Life, upon good grounds, we affirm to be far different from the Life of a Rational Soul, nor can arise from it.

The second Argument which I pro∣duce, is this; The Rational Soul is in∣fus'd either into the Seed, or into the Birth when form'd. The first is not true, for then upon any effusion of fer∣tile Seed, not follow'd by Conception, a Soul would be lost; and so all Divines would commit a heinous sin of public Soul-murder, in suffering young lusty Men to marry Women above Fifty, knowing there can be no Production

from such unequal Matches. To which, if it be answer'd, That the Seed of the Man never proves fertile but when mix'd with the Seed of the Woman. I an∣swer, That the efficient Power is all in the Man's Seed, and that the Womans Seed is only material, and the next Ali∣mentary Principle. If therefore that ef∣ficient Power first forming the Birth, were the Rational Soul it self, it ought to be solely in the Man's Seed; and in that case the Divines and Law-givers could not exempt themselves from Soul∣murder; from which however all Men readily excuse 'em, even those that hold the Soul to be propagated. If the latter be true, let the opposing Party tell us, what was the first Moving or efficient Cause in the Seed, which began to move and enliven the Seed before the Infusion of the Rational Soul. Of necessity it must be something else besides the Ra∣tional Soul, and therefore the Vegetative Soul. But Philosophers teach us, that in every living Compound there can be but one Soul, and that in Man comprehends the Vegetative within it self; and that the latter is only an Accident, and tem∣pering of the Substance, that is to say, the innate Heat, and such a disposition of the Heart, Brains, and other Bowels, as also of the Spirits themselves, as is in a condition to act: and therefore there cannot be two distinct Souls in Man; one Vegetative, the other Rational. But tho' Aristotle of old, and many Philo∣sophers now teach the same Doctrine, it is not to be thence inferr'd that the Doctrine is true: they are Men, and may Err. The foregoing Reasons suf∣ficiently demonstrate the thing to be o∣therwise, and abundantly inform us, That the Life of the Body would be per∣petual, if the Rational Soul were once to enliven it: For wherefore should it be less able to do it in the end, than at the beginning, when it can suffer no dimi∣nution of its Faculties? and if at the be∣ginning it disposes the Matter for Life, why should it not proceed and do it without end? Moreover, seeing that a Vegetative Soul is admitted among Brutes as the only Mistress and Enliven∣er of the Organical Body, wherefore may not such a Soul be admitted in the Body of Man, which is no less corrup∣tible than the Body of the Beast? To this we may add, That the diversity of Actions, the necessity of two Souls in Man, is apparent: For the Flesh covets a∣gainst the Spirit, and the Spirit against the Flesh. And this Intestine War every Man has Experience of in himself: For the Corporeal Soul abiding in the Body, inclines a Man to Sensual Pleasures; the Rational, which is of a higher Origi∣nal, dehorts us to abstain from mischie∣vous Lust, and invites us to Holiness, and raises our thoughts from things pe∣rishable and Earthy, to things Divine and Incorruptible. This Civil War Me∣dea felt in her self, whence she cried out,

—Video meliora, proboque, Deteriora sequor—

The better things I see and do approve; The worse I follow after, seek, and love.

LIX. Lastly, The Corporeal Soul,* 1.904 tho' it not only apprehend Things in their simple Capacity, but laying seve∣ral Things together, makes Conclusions after its own manner, as appears from the Actions of Dogs, Apes, Elephants, &c. yet are its Actions far inferiour to those of the Rational Soul. For this not only beholds the Idea's conceiv'd by the Fancy of that Corporeal Soul, but also judges whether they are true or false, good or ill, disordered, or in or∣der: and often stops the fury of the Corporeal Soul, unsteadfastly roving through various Phantasms, and recal∣ling it from these or those Conceptions, directs it to others, and at its own plea∣sure bounds it within certain Limits, lest it should stray from the Truth, and by that means governs and moderates its Actions.

LX. For the better illustration of* 1.905 this Mystery, there will some farther light appear in that which follows; tho' indeed the whole Cloud is dissolv'd by the Soveraign Iudge, which is the Holy Scripture, which declares that there is a Vegetable Soul both in Men, as well as in Beasts. Of Brutes, it is manifest in these words; Let the Earth produce every living Creature according to its kind, Cattel, and Reptiles, and e∣very Beast of the Field according to its kind. And the same is to be deduc'd from Gen. 9. v. 10, 12, 15, 16. Levit. 24. c. 18. and Iob 12. v. 10. in all which places the Scripture speaks of a Living Soul produced out of the Earth or Cor∣poreal Matter, and joyned to the Li∣ving Body, therefore corruptible, and liable to perish upon the dissolution of the mix'd Body. And this fort of Soul in Men the sacred Scripture not only acknowledges, but distinguishes from the Immortal Rational Soul, calling he one

simply, a Living Soul; the other the Spirit given by God. The first is appa∣rent from several Texts of Scripture; Gen. 2 v. 7. Exod. 21. v. 23. Levit. 24. v. 18. Deut. 19. v. 21. •…•… Reg. 19. v. 4. where Elias desired the death of his Soul. And in the Gospel of St. Iohn c. 10. v. 11. The good Shepherd lays down his Life for his Sheep. Which certainly cannot be understood of the Immortal Rational Soul, which never dyes; but of that Soul which gives life, as well to Brutes as Men; and at the beginning form'd the Organic Body, and being it self Corpo∣real, is produced out of Corporeal Mat∣ter, and perishes again together with the Body which it form'd; and upon the perishing of which, the Rational Soul infus'd from above, immediately takes its flight, as not having any habitation in the body of Man longer than Life en∣dures. This Immortal Rational Soul, the holy Text, to distinguish it from the Vegetative Soul, which is corruptible like the Matter from whence it proceeds, calls for the most part a Spirit, and some∣times only the Soul. Thus David, Psalm 15. v. 10. Thou wilt not leave my Soul in the Grave. And Psalm 30. v. 10. Into thy hands I commend my Spirit. Thus Eccles. 14. v. 17. The Spirit returns to God that gave it. Thus Stephen, Acts 7. v. 60. Lord Iesus receive my Spirit. And Matth. 27. v. 50. And when he had cried with a loud voice he yielded up the Ghost; repeated by St. Iohn, c. 19. v. 13. All which latter Texts cannot be under∣stood but only of the Immortal Soul.

LXI. But because it is apparent* 1.906 from what has been said, That there are two Souls in Man; what shall we answer to those that object, and say, there cannot be two Souls in Man, be∣cause several Forms cannot actuate the same Matter? We say that there is but one Soul that immediately actu∣ates the same Matter, and gives Form to the Species, that is the Vegetative Soul; but that the Rational Soul, which is of a sublimer Original, only dwells in the Body, but never form'd it at the beginning. So that there are not two, but only one Form that actuates the Matter. Which is manifest from hence; for that when the Body form'd perishes, the forming Form pe∣rishes likewise with it; but the Rational Soul neither perishes, nor is corrupted with it. Therefore this neither is, nor was the forming Form, but something else infus'd into the Body already form'd, and subsisting of it self, which by vertue of the forming Form abides in the Body; and when that fails, presently forsakes the Body, and subsists entirely of it self, without being united to it.

LXII. But here another Question* 1.907 arises; Whether, if a Vegetative Soul be to be allow'd, which indifferently enlivens Plants and Animals, there be not also a third peculiar sensitive Soul to be allow'd, that feels as well in Man as in Beasts, and performs O∣perations different from those of the Vegetative Soul? To which I answer; That the Vegetative Soul is the same that feels in those Creatures, which have those Mediums and apt Organs ne∣cessarily requir'd for feeling; as Brains, Eyes, Ears, &c. but where those Or∣gans are wanting, as in Plants, they are not said to be sensible, but only to live as Vegetables.

We must therefore yield, according to Sacred Scripture, and for the Reasons already alledged, that there is in Man a Vital, Vegetable Mortal Soul, distinct from the rational immortal Soul; and that that is the Soul which is the chief Actress in the Formation of the Birth, the same also which many call the Architectonic Power, or the Plastic Efficacy.

LXIII. And thus I think I have* 1.908 sufficiently demonstrated that the Ar∣chitectonic Power is the Vegetative Soul it self, and that it may subsist in a living Man conveniently, toge∣ther with the Rational Soul. And now one would think there were no more to be said as to this Particular; but be∣cause we have already made an Excursi∣on somewhat too far beyond the Limits of our Port, before we return back, let us spread our Sails, and steer a little far∣ther into the Ocean, that we may shew a safer Course to others that sail in this Turbulent Sea, and are in continual danger of Shipwrack among the Shelves and Rocks of Error and Mistake.

The first Doubt that occurs in the History of the Vegetative Soul, is, where to assign it a Seat in the Body of Man, and other perfect Creatures; which has occasioned great Disputes among Philo∣sophers.

LXIV. That it abides in all Parts of* 1.909 the Living Body, scarce any one will deny, as being apparent from its a∣ctions in all parts of the Body. So that the Peripatetics asserting it to be equally diffus'd into all parts alike,

say that it is in All, and All in eve∣ry Part. That is to say, that one and the same Numerical Vegetable Soul ex∣tended through the whole Body enlivens the whole. But because it is divisible with the Matter wherein it abides; there∣fore that which abides in the Parts that are torn from the whole, not only constitutes a part of the Soul which en∣livens the whole, but constitutes the whole Soul in that part so torn off; which either dyes with the part torn off, for want of Nourishment, as when any animal Part is cut off, for then all that whole Soul which enliven'd that part fails and fades away for want of Nourish∣ment: Or else, having convenient Nou∣rishment operates in the dismembred Part, and performs the Act of En∣livening. Which is apparent in many Plants; as for Example, of a Willow Bough, which being torn from the Tree, and again planted in the Earth, will grow as well as the Tree from which it was pull'd; and therefore every bough enjoys the whole Soul, as the Mother-Tree retains the whole Soul, and so both the one and other grow and increase alike, not by vertue of any part of the Soul, but of the whole Soul, as is ap∣parent by the Action: For that Vivifi∣cation and Nutrition is perform'd in all the boughs, which cannot be perform'd by a part of the Soul, but by all the Soul. And so the foresaid Maxim of the Peripatetics may be rightly ex∣pounded, which nevertheless has hither∣to, by many Philosophers, been too hastily rejected as false and impossible.

LXV. Among those that have not* 1.910 rightly apprehended, the learned Wil∣lis, seems to have been one, who in his 4. Chap. de anim. Brutor. thus writes. The Corporeal Soul, says he, in more perfect Brutes, and common to Man, is extended to the whole Organical Body, and vivifies, actuates, and irradiates both its several Parts and Humours, so that it seems to subsist in both of them actually, and to have as it were its imperial Seats. But the immediate Subjects of the Soul are the vital Liquor or the Blood, circulated by a perpetual Circulation of the Heart, Arteries, and Veins, and the animal Li∣quor or nervous Iuice flowing gently with∣in the Brain and its Appendixes. The Soul inhabits and graces with its Presence both these Provinces; but as it cannot be wholly together in both at once, it actuates them both as it were divided and by its Parts. For as one Part living within its Blood, is of a certain fiery Nature, be∣ing enkindled like a Flame. So the other being diffused through the animal Liquor, seems as it were Light, or the Rayes of Light slowing from that Flame. And a little after,

There are therefore Corporeal Souls ac∣cording to its two chief Functions in the Organical body; viz. the Vital and the Animal; two distinct Parts, that is to say, the Flamy and the Lucid.

LXVI. From this Text of Willis* 1.911 it appears, that the most famous Per∣son conceived a new Opinion of the Soul, but less congruous to Reason. For First, He alledges that the Soul, besides the Parts of the Body enlivens likewise the Humours and Spirits, where∣in he very much deviates from the Truth. For that the Humours and Spirits do not live, but they would live were they enliven'd by a Soul. Second∣ly, Seeing that Life cannot be ascribed to the fluid Nourishments continually passing away, nor joyn'd to the whole in Continuity, but only to the real Parts of the Body: Willis seems tacitly to take it for a thing not to be question'd, that the Blood and animal Spirits are the true Parts of an animated Body, no less than the solid Parts adhering to the whole in Continuity, which that it is not true, we have demonstrated in the first Chapter of this Book. Thirdly, He asserts that the Blood and animal Spi∣rits are the immediate Subjects of the Soul, the contrary to which is apparent, for that the immediate Subjects of the Soul are the Parts themselves of the Bo∣dy, among which neither the Blood, nor Spirits, nor any other of the Humours are to be numbered. Fourthly, Contra∣ry to Reason he constitutes two Parts of the Body, one Fierie or Flammeous, another Lucid, and ascribes to each par∣ticular Seats, to the one the Blood, to the other the animal Liquor; for thus the Soul that had no Feet before, will have two Feet in this our Age, and with one Foot shall tread upon the Blood, with the other upon the animal Liquor. Yet lest the Soul, having broken one Leg by Accident should chance to fall, provident Dr. Willis has provided her a third Leg. But besides these two Mem∣bers, says he, of the Soul, fitted to the individual Body, a certain other Portion of it, taken from both, and as it were the Epitome of the whole Soul, is placed apart, for the Conservation of its Species. This as it were an Appendix of the vital Flame, growing up in the Blood, is for the most part Lucid or Light, and consists

of animal Spirits, which being collected in∣to a certain little Bundle, and having got an appropriate Humour, are hidden up among the spermatic bodies. And thus the Soul that formerly knew neither how to walk or stand, now shall stand more firmly supported with three Leggs. And yet with all her three Leggs she will halt, not without danger of falling, and therefore if any one could furnish her with a fourth Leg, then she would not only stand more stoutly, but proceed e∣qually in all her Actions, without halt∣ing, like a strong fourfooted Horse. But setting the Jest aside, it is apparent from what has been said, that the learned Wil∣lis did not rightly understand the Maxim of the Peripatetics, and for that Reason miserably mangl'd and divided the Soul, indivisible so far as it abides in the whole, into several Parts at his own Pleasure, whereas it is the same and of the same Nature in all the Parts. If a∣ny one should here object, That the Seed is also potentially animated, and that from thence it is manifest, that the Hu∣mours may live and be animated as well as the Parts of the Body, which we have so strenuously deny'd; I an∣swer that the Seed is no nutritive Hu∣mour like the Blood, and animal Li∣quor, nor is any longer a part of the in∣dividual Body, Iohn, or Peter, from whence it is separated, but a specific Juice, containing in it self a Compendium of the whole Man, and the Ideas of all the Parts, and therefore the Soul may lie hid therein, as in all the Parts of the whole Body, till at length separated from its Entanglements by Heat, it declares its being present by its enlivening Acti∣ons: Which enlivening Actions never proceed, nor can proceed, from any nu∣tritive Humours, or redundant after Nourishment.

LXVII. But seeing the Philoso∣phers* 1.912 of our Age leave no Stone of Enquiry unturn'd, nor are ever at rest, till they have found out some∣thing in their most obscure Searches, whereby to perswade themselves and o∣thers that they are within reach of the Truth. I would have them now explain to us what this vegetable Soul is, which is the first efficient and Protoplastic Principle in the Forma∣tion of the Birth: For otherwise, if we were to acquiesce in the Name a∣lone, the efficient Principle might be affirm'd to be rather a Chimera than an efficient Principle. If perhaps any one shall say with Aristotle, That the Soul is the beginning of Motion. Or, That it is the first Act of a natural body potenti∣ally having Life. Or with Ferneli•…•…s, That it is the Perfection of an Organic body, and whatever shall give Life to that body, and introduce vital Actions. Or with Sennertus, That it is an Act and substantial Form, by which such a body is animated. Or with some of our modern Philosophers, That it is the first matter of Fermentation and Formati∣on, and that Life is nothing else but Fer∣mentation; These are all meer Words and meer Chimeras. For by such words the Essence of the Soul is no way un∣folded: Nor does it appear, what that beginning of Motion, or what that first Act is; nor what that Perfection, or substantial Form, or first matter of Fer∣mentation is. In Man alone we know the rational Soul, its Divinity, and its Immortality only by Revelation, and Faith, and by its wonderful and divine Operations. But no Man unfolds that substantial Form, that first Act, that first Matter of Fermentation, by which all animate Beings obtain Life, and are thence said to live, nor what that first Act, that Form or Matter is; but all Men acquiesce in the Name alone of a Vegetable Soul.

LXVIII. This same Soul I call the* 1.913 vivific Spirit produced out of Cor∣poreal Matter, surpassing all other Spi∣rits produced out of Matter. Now altho' this Definition of mine be suf∣ficient to denote the Substance it self of the Soul, or rather the Subject wherein it abides, nevertheless it will not satisfy many who desire a farther Explication of the Nature of this Spi∣rit, which however it is better to con∣template in Thought, than to express in Words. For how, or with what Knowledg instructed, it forms and joyns the Parts of the Body to be form'd, so fitly, and with so much decency of Or∣der and Shape, he only knows who a∣lone, and first of all created all things at the Beginning. What it is that rowses it, and frees it from the Incumbrances wherewith it is surrounded, and brings it upon the Stage of Action, has been already sufficiently explain'd; that is to say, the Heat acting in convenient place and time upon the Seed; for that with∣out such a Heat it cannot be dissolved or waken'd out of the thicker Mat∣ter.* 1.914

LXIX. Regius thinks he has found

out a way to unfold this Gordian Rid∣dle more clearly and after another manner promising to explain this obscure Mystery of Nature, as do many others, by manifest Reasons. He writes that the Formation of the Birth is perfected by the heat as well of the Womb as of the Seeds, by which their Particles are agitated in the Womb; and being agitated by rea∣son of their Shapes and Magnitudes which they have acquired in the se∣minary Passages tempered and shap'd after a certain manner, of necessity become in the Womb a perfect prolific Principle of the Creature to be form'd, furnished with Alimentary Iuice, and cloathed with little Membranes, in some Measure resembling the Seeds of Plants. Then he adds that this Ex∣plication of the Formation of the Birth is so manifest, that there is no farther Necessity of framing in the Womb or Seed any Idea, Fantasie, or Principle of a Soul or any other Faculty, to be the Author of Formation. But the most learn'd Gentleman, who at first sight promises something of a Delphian O∣racle, in these words does but explain the lesser Obscurity by the greater Obscu∣rity, and swelling with an extraordinary Self-Conceit, he is pleased with his own Invention, as to believe that never any Man ever did or ever will invent any thing more subtilly and ingeniously; when as there is nothing in it but Va∣nity and Ostentation. For what others call the Soul of the Seed, the vegetative Soul, the Plastic Power, the Archi∣tectonic Vertue, &c. that he calls cer∣tain Shapes and Magnitudes of the Par∣ticles of the Seeds, more difficult to be apprehended than plastic Power, or ve∣getative Soul. And altho' perhaps some Persons may believe that the Artificial Formation of other things without Life may in some Measure be conceived by his mechanic Explication annexed, yet does it not from thence appear, how the Parts of our living Body are generated out of the diversity of the Shapes and Magnitudes of the Particles of the Seed; what should occasion the Heart to be form'd in the middle of the Breast, and not in the Abdomen or Head, why there should be in that particularly eleven Valves and no more; wherefore not two Hearts in one Birth; how the Parts re∣ceive Life from the Principle of the Birth, and what introduces Motion and Actions, &c. All which, with an innu∣merable number of other things, he that will refer to the Shapes and Magnitudes of the Particles of the Seed, ought first to tell us what they are, and how they are mixed. Who does not this, propo∣ses his Shapes and Figures as meer Ima∣ginary Chimeras, and clears up no Ob∣scurity, but wraps us up in more Dark∣ness, and while he pretends to tell us something of Novelty and better, says nothing at all, but intangles an obscure thing in newer but obscurer Terms.

LXX. Lately Tho. Willis has set* 1.915 forth the Substance and Nature of this Soul quite otherwise, de an. Brut. c. 2. Where after he has asserted the Soul of Brutes, which we call Vegeta∣tive to be Corporeal, and extended through the whole Body, and divisible together with the Matter wherein it abides, at length concludes, that the Soul lying hid in the Blood or Vital Liquor, is either a certain Fire or Flame.

But that we have affirm'd the Soul of a brute, says he, to be not only Corporeal and extended, but that it is of a certain fiery Nature, and its Act or Substance is either a Flame or a breath, near to, or a Kin to Flame, besides the large Testimo∣nies of Authors both Ancient and Modern, Reasons and Arguments almost demonstra∣tive, have also induc'd me to it. As to what appertains to the Suffrages of others, that I may not seem to insist upon the Au∣thority of a single Gassendus, who has maintained this Hypothesis, I shall here cite many both ancient Philosophers and Physicians. For not to mention Demo∣critus, Epicurus, La•…•…rtius, Lucretius, and their Followers, Hippocrates, Plato, Pythagoras; Aristotle, Galen, with ma∣ny others, tho' disagreeing about other things; Yet in this Opinion, That the Soul was either a Fire, or something Ana∣logical to it, they all shook Hands; to whom, among the Moderns, Fernelius, Heurnius, Cartesius, Hogeland, and o∣thers also have joyn'd themselves; and lately Honoratus Faber has delivered in express Words, That the Soul of the brute is Corporeal, and its Substance Fire.

LXXI. But while the famous Tho∣mas* 1.916 Willis, with all those most in∣genious Philosophers and Physicians, asserts the Soul to be Fire, he names indeed a Body of the greatest Activi∣ty, but such a one as consumes and

destroys all things in which and upon which it acts: whereas the Soul by its Presence does not destroy those Bodies in which it is and acts, but preserves 'em in their soundnss, excites the Mem∣bers to their Functions, and defends 'em from Corruption, till those Bodies, wherein it abides, are destroy'd by some other Cause, together with the Soul it self. Moreover, among all those famous men, not one could ever teach, what it is that forces or instructs that Fire in the Generation of the Creature to adapt and joyn all and singular the parts in such an exact and admirable order together, and in every one to perform such various and determin'd Operations; as the making the Chylus in the Stomach, Blood in the Heart, Animal Spirits in the Brain, Sight in the Eye, Hearing in the Ear, Taste in the Tongue: why through its extraordinary activity and rapid Motion, it does not hinder the Forma∣tion of the Organs, and rather destroy 'em being form'd, then form 'em it self, and produce variety of Actions out of each.

LXXII. Moreover, the foresaid* 1.917 Thomas Willis, pretending to ex∣plain the Soul yet more perspicuously, defines it a little after to be a Heap of contiguous Particles existing in a swift Motion. And then to shew the nature and original of those Particles, he thus proceeds, Cap. 4. In Mechanical things, Fire, Air, and Light are chiefly energe∣tical, which human Industry is always wont to use, for the more stupendious and no less necessary Works. In like manner we may believe, that the supream Work-master, to wit, the Great Creator, in the beginning did make the greatly active, and most sub∣tile Souls of living Creatures out of their Particles, as the most active, to which he also gave a greater, and as it were a su∣pernatural Virtue and Efficacy from the most excellent Structure of the Organs, most exquisitely labour'd beyond the Workman∣ship of any other Machine.

LXXIII. But suppose the Substance* 1.918 of the Organ, wherein the Soul most nearly resides to be made out of such Principles, and so the Organ of the Soul to be well compos'd, what is this to our Enquiry? The true Existence of the Soul consists not in the Substance of the Organ, but in its own Substance, and appears by its Act or Operation. As the sight consists not in an Eye well compos'd of good Substance, but in the Act of Seeing, and perception of the vi∣sible Rayes; which Act of Sight the Soul accomplishes by means of the Or∣gan of Sight well form'd. But now I would fain know what that is which gives life to that heap of Particles, con∣stituting the substance of the Soul, and by its Presence forms and enlivens the other Parts, and excites 'em to so many various, wonderful, and distinct Opera∣tions? when it is said that the Soul is a heap of most subtile Particles, or a Fire, then only by an impropriety of Speech, the Thing containing is designed for the Thing contained, that is, some most subtile Subject wherein the Soul most nearly resides. For that properly it is something else besides Fire, is apparent from the contrariety of the Actions: For the Fire destroys, the Soul preserves: the Fire destroys Bodies form'd; the Soul both forms and produces things not form'd. The Fire is sensible of nothing; the Soul by means of the sensitive Or∣gans, sees, hears, and tasts, &c. Hence the most learned Willis, tho' a most stout Asserter of his own Opinion, at length is forced to distinguish the Soul from its Corporeal Subject: For, says he, as soon as any Matter is dispos'd to receive Life, by the Laws of the Creation, the Soul, which is the fo•…•…m of the thing, and the Body, which is said to be the Mat∣ter, began to be form'd under a certain Spe∣cies, according to the Character imprinted in 'em.

LXXIV. Therefore the Form, that* 1.919 is the Soul, is something different from that same Matter, which is the next Subject or Habitaculum of the Soul. In like manner, speaking of the Princi∣ples of the Soul, As to the first beginnings of the Corporeal Soul, says he, this, as a Shell-fish, forms and •…•…its its Shell to it self, exists somewhat a little sooner, and so more noble than the Organical Body: Because a certain portion of Animal Spirits, or most subtile Animals, or a little Soul not yet in∣kindled, lyes hid in the Seminal Humour, which having gotten a proper fire place, and at length being kindled from the Soul of the Parent acting or leaning to it, as a flame from a flame, begins to shine forth and un∣fold it self, a little before the first Ground∣work of the Body is laid. This orders the Web of the Conception, and agitates the apply'd Matter, &c.

LXXV. Now I would have Dr.* 1.920 Thomas Willis explain what he means by that Little Diminutive Soul not

yet enkindled. For a heap of Animal Spirits, or any Atoms whatever, can be nothing but the nearest Matter wherein it abides: For such a Subject does not live, unless there be in it some living thing to enliven that heap. For such a Subject, in Generation, neither knows how, or was ever taught to form, delineate, compose, and en∣large all the Parts in such exact order. Which what it is we know not, only we find it by its effects. Hence Willis him∣self acknowledges, that the Soul cannot be perceived by our Senses, but only we under∣stand it by its effects and operations. From which words of his it appears, that what∣ever Dr. Willis said before of Fire, and a heap of Animal Spirits and Atoms, they are only meer and most uncertain Con∣jectures, which denote not the Soul it self, but only either its next Subject, wherein it abides, or by a Similitude of thinnest Body of swiftest Action, the manner, in some measure, of their Acti∣ons. For to assert that the Soul is a Heap of most subtile Atoms, or a Fire, is the same as to assert, that the Sight is Fire, because that by the means of the most subtile moveable Fire, its Action is accomplish'd, nor can be accomplish'd without it. Whereas it is not that same Medium into which the visible Rays are imprinted as the Subject, and with it conveigh'd to the Eyes, but the percep∣tion of those Rays that make the sight. As therefore that Percipient is something else quite different from the Air, by means of which the visible Rays are convey'd to the visible Organs. So the Soul is somewhat else, which is different from the Fire, or any other heap of A∣toms, by means of which it subsists and operates in the Body.

LXXVI. From whence it is appa∣rent* 1.921 how absurd that is, which Dr. Willis adds, Cap. 2. The Existency of the Corporeal Soul depends al∣together upon its Act or Life. The word depends is ill; he should have rather said, becomes known. For by the Act it self, or Life, we only discover, that such a Soul is present and acts, to enliven the Body wherein it abides. For Example; when I write any thing, by that Act it is known that the hand of a writer performs that Act: However, the Hand that writes is quite different from the Act, which is the writing; and does not altogether depend upon that Act; only by that Act the presence of the Agent is made known. Wherefore it is not well added by Dr. Willis, The Essence of this begins altoge∣ther from Life, as it were from the firing of a subtile Matter. I say he asserts this erroneously, for that the Soul does not begin from Life, which nevertheless lies as it were imprisoned in the Seed, till with its spirituous Subject, wherein it re∣sides, it remains wrapt up in the thicker Particles of the Seed; from whence be∣ing set at liberty in a convenient place by the Heat, it begins to act and perform its duty, and enliven, form, nourish, and increase the Body where it resides; and thus by these actions we discover, that such an enlivening Soul is in the Bo∣dy.* 1.922

LXXVII. Of the Affections or Passions of this Soul many things might be written, which however we purposely omit, lest our Digression should be too tedious. In the mean while we recommend to the Readers what the learned Willis propounds upon this Subject in his Hist. de Anim. Brut. from Cap. 8. to Cap. 16. where he writes so elegantly and splendidly concerning the Passions, that he does not only shew the sharpness of his Wit, but carries away the Laurel from all others that have wrote before him.

LXXVIII. We shall only add one* 1.923 Question more, Seeing that the Vege∣tative Soul is Corporeal, whether it be nourish'd by those Nourishments which are brought for the support of the Body wherein it abides? It was an ancient say∣ing of Hippocrates, That the Soul al∣ways grows till death. Hence some have concluded that the Soul wasts like all the other parts of the Body, and is repair'd from time to time by the Nourishment, together with those Parts wherein it re∣sides. But seeing the Nature of the Sub∣stance of that Soul is unknown to us, and for that reason in the mean time reaches us, that it abides in some Subject which is the nearest, as in some subtile Spirit, and by that means enlivens the Body, we think that same saying of Hippocrates is rather to be understood of that same nearest subject of the Soul, without which most certainly it cannot subsist, than of the Soul it self; concerning whose sub∣stance, what, and of what Nature it is, and whether it want Nourishment, we can determine nothing certainly. When the flame of a Lamp is cherish'd and continued, we do not nourish it with a flame like to it self, but something that

nourishes the Subject to which it adheres, as Oyl with Oyl; which Subject failing at length, the flame fails, which how∣ever is somewhat distinct from it subject, for Oyl is not flame or fire; neither is Fire Oyl. But it is a diminutive Fire latent in the Oyl, which being kindled by another flame, issues forth out of it by degrees, but cannot subsist without it, and so there is a necessity of recruiting, not the flame of the Lamp with another flame, but the subject of it, that is the Oyl, to the end it may be continued. In like manner 'tis not the Soul, but its nearest Subject, which is to be nourish'd, and so by the nourishment of that the Soul is continu'd. But that Dr. Willis believes the contrary is apparent from these words of his: As the thicker Parti∣cles of the Nutritive Iuice repair the losses of the Corporeal Bulk, so the more subtile Particles of it repair the waste of this same Soul. And thus he believes, that not only the near Subject, but the Soul it self to be nourish'd: which is left to e∣very Man's liberty to think what he pleases.

LXXIX. In the mean while there* 1.924 are such eager Contentions about the Original, Seat, Subject, Essence, Sub∣stance, and the whole History of the Soul, the most acute Philosophers, could never yet find out and tell us what this same Life or Soul is, concerning which so much has been discours'd and written, and which is the prime Actress in the Generation of all Creatures, and forms the whole that is to be form'd. Here therefore it is that we are all at a loss; here we find how ignorant we are; here we perceive how vainly we waste our time, in prying into those Mysteries which the most Sublime Creator would not have us understand: Here we ob∣serve the Arrogancy of many, who in the unfolding such Secrets of Nature, with a haughty Ostentation endeavour to shew their Knowledge and their Learn∣ing, when they utter nothing but meer empty words. Certainly it behoves us in Mysteries of this Nature tacitly to ac∣quiesce, and patiently to be contented with our Ignorance, and rather to ad∣mire the Power of the Almighty, than to be too scrutinous into forbidden My∣steries, mindful of those Verses of Lu∣cretius:

Multa sacro tegit involucro Natura: neque ullis Fas est scire quidem mortalibus omnia: multa Admirare modò, necnon venerare: neque illa Inquires quae sunt, arcanis proxima: nam∣que In manibus quae sunt, vix nos ea scire pu∣tandum est. Usque adeo procul à nobis praesentia veri.

The Sense of which is this:

Nature, much under Vails seems to con∣ceal, Nor was it fit, she all things should re∣veal. It is not just, proud, foolish Man should know All things she does within the Orbs be∣low. Nor is it fit Man should be made so wise: Lest knowing all, he should her Skill despise. Some of her Works as wonderful she made; And some, the worship of the Gods in∣vade. Things near, if hid, we may not search into: The more remote, less lawful are to know. Those things with which we daily do converse, Their very Names we scarcely may re∣hearse. So far off still, Truths presence seems to stand, We scarce the Name, much less the Thing command.

CHAP. XXX. Containing the History of the Birth contained in the Womb. And first of the Placenta or U∣terine Liver, and the Cavities call'd Acetables.

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* 1.925 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* 1.926 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* 1.927 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* 1.928 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* 1.929 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* 1.930 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* 1.931 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* 1.932 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* 1.933 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,* 1.934 not unlike the Colour of the Spleen; somewhat more ruddy, seldom pa∣ler.

XI. The Shape of the whole Uterine* 1.935 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* 1.936 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* 1.937 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* 1.938 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,* 1.939 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,* 1.940 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,* 1.941 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,* 1.942 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* 1.943 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* 1.944 Ancients it is said to adhere to the Womb by Acetables, concerning which Acetables however there is a very great dispute.

• 1. Some think 'em to be the Protube∣rancies* 1.945 of the Vessels of the womb, like to Hemorrhoids or Warts, with which the Embryo is nourish'd. But this is derided by Erotian in his Onomasticon.
• 2. Others with Diocles assert'em to be certain Mamillary Processes, swelling out from the body of the womb into its Ca∣vity, during the time of Ingravidation, for the Nourishment of the Birth: which is also exploded by Soranus Ephesius.
• 3. Others with Protagoras, back'd as they say, by Hippocrates and Galen, af∣firm that the Acetables are the Orifices of the Vessels swelling with overplus of blood, dispersed through the inner Tunicle of the Womb? And thus Van Horn asserts 'em to be a certain arteri∣ous larger sort of little Pipes gaping in∣to the Cavity of the Womb. Which Opinion was started long before by Spi∣gelius, but rejected by Nicolas Mas∣sa.
• 4. Formerly they held that the Ker∣nelly Pieces of Flesh, resembling the Leaves of the Herb Wall-Penny-Wort, were placed between the Chorion and the Womb, adjoyn'd to the Orifices of the Vessels, and took them for the Cotyle∣dons.
• 5. Riolanus writes that the Placenta is fastened to the sides of the Womb by an innumerable number of Fibrous Pro∣ductions, and gives the Name of Coty∣ledons to these Fibres: And besides these affirms that there are no other apparent Cotyledons in Women.
• 6 Fallopius, Arantius, and many o∣ther quick-sighted Anatomists, deny that there are any Acetables or Cotyle∣dons in a womans Womb; with whom also Harvey agrees: who describes the Cotyledons in beasts, but deny women to have any, or that they have any thing like 'em. On the other side Silvius stoutly maintains that there are Aceta∣bles in women, and affirms that they are to be seen in a woman near her Time, or but newly delivered. With whom Carolus Gemma, and Laurentius agree, Galen indeed asserts that women have Cotyledons, but he confirms it only by the Authority of other Anatomists; and says they are the Orifices of the Ves∣sels of the Womb; or rather the clo∣sing together of the Vessels of the womb and the birth by Anastomosis: Which Opinion we have already refuted.

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* 1.946 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* 1.947 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* 1.948 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* 1.949 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* 1.950 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* 1.951 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* 1.952 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,* 1.953 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* 1.954 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* 1.955 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.

CHAP. XXXI. Of the Membranes enfolding the Birth; and the humours therein contained.

I. NExt the Uterine Liver fol∣low two Membranes enfold∣ing the Birth, and as it were enclosing it in an Egg, Chorion, and Amnios, which because being both joyn'd toge∣ther, they are expell'd out of the womb together with the Placenta, presently after the birth of the Child; are by the Latins call'd Secundae or Secundine,* 1.956 Seconds or Secundines; by the Greeks 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 and 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, as being things that come forth in the second place.

II. The Chorion is an Exterior* 1.957 Membrane encompassing the whole

Birth, thick and interwoven with se∣veral small diminutive Fibres, like Threads, smooth within, and some∣what rough without; here and there sprinkl'd with a little Fat, and where it sticks to the bottom of the Womb by the help of the Placenta, furnished with several Vessels proceeding from the first Caruncle described C. 29. As also from the Uterine Liver, and Umbilical Vessels: Of which those are to be seen in great number in the Cho∣rion before the Formation of the Birth; but these, after the Navel is grown out to its full length from the Birth, enter the Membrane, and are intermix∣ed with the former, and so being strengthened with this Membrane as with a Coverlet, pass forward to the Uterine Liver annexed to the Chorion.

III. Nicholaus Hoboken, besides* 1.958 the Chorion, describes another Mem∣brane, thin and transparent, not ha∣ving any visible Branches of Vessels, very like the Amnios sticking to the Chorion, and easily separated from it with the Nails, without the help of a Penknife; but sticking very close a∣bout the Region of the Placenta sticking to the Chorion. This third Membrane between the Chorion and the Amnios, Needham was the first that found out, and call'd it very fitly the Urinary Membrane, rationally affirming it to supply the place of the Alantoides in Brutes, and that between that and the Chorion, the Urine of the Birth was collected and kept till Delivery. And thus by this Invention of the most fa∣mous Needham, and the Confirmation of the same by Hoboken's Inspections in∣to the Secundines, all those Doubts are most splendidly removed concerning the Alantois of Women, and the Place where the Urine of the Embryo is con∣tain'd, and preserv'd till delivery. I my self, by Needham's Directions, have sought for and found it; and so laid a∣side all those Doubts which have puzl'd me before concerning the Alantois in Women. This Membrane, when others also saw, they took it for the inner part of the Chorion, and so asserted the Cho∣rion to consist of a double Membrane, to which Opinion many other Anato∣mists gave their Consent.

IV. The Amnios is the inner Mem∣brane,* 1.959 next enfolding the Birth and sostly enclosing it, hence call'd by the Names of Amiculum and Indusium, the Cloak, or Shirt, gently resting upon the Chorion, yet no where joyn'd to it, but only in one very small place in the upper Part at the Ca∣runcle describ'd C. 29.

This is very thin and single, soft, smooth, and transparent, distant from the Birth with a loose Space, furnished with little Vessels hardly Visible, issuing from the foresaid Caruncle, and the um∣bilical Vessels. This Membrane Aqua∣pendens thought to be double; who per∣haps lighting upon the urinary Mem∣brane before mentioned, thought it to be a part of the Amnion. Now these small Vessels by reason of their extra∣ordinary Exility, are very rarely to be discern'd by the Eye, and therefore Ho∣boken, and some others thought it had no Vessels; but erroneously, when Life, Nourishment, and Growth, teach us that it cannot want Vessels; seeing that in the Spiders web-like, and glassy Tu∣nicle of the Eye, there are no Vessels conspicuous; and yet they are no less nourished with Blood than other Parts, and those Vessels are sufficiently conspi∣cuous in the Net-like Tunicle wrap'd a∣bout the vitreous Humour. Needham writes that these little Vessels are ma∣nifestly to be discerned in a new ejected and warm Amnion, but vanish as soon as it comes to be cold. Wharton more∣over allows the Amnios Lymphatic Ves∣sels, which in regard they are at no time to be seen, nor any way useful therein, whether they be there or no, I very much doubt.

V. Sometimes at the time of De∣livery* 1.960 it happens that a torn-off Part of this Amnios will stick to the head of this Birth, and that the Child is born with it, as if he had a Caul or Cap upon his Head, for which reason such Births are called Galeati, or with Caps or Cauls on them. From this Cap the Midwifes make great Ob∣servations upon the future Good or Ill Fortune of the Infant, according to the Diversity of the Colour, and diligently preserve it, as a Fee belonging to them∣selves, by that means to scare and ter∣rify the Parents of the Infant with their Fictions and Stories, and procure the more Money for it from the Parents, whom they ridiculously make believe that if the Infant did not eat that Cap in Powder, or else carry it about him all his Life time in a Box, he should prove unfortunate or else Epileptic; or

be continually haunted with Spirits and Hobgoblins: but if he did eat or carry it about him, that then he should be happy and fortunate.

VI. But we are to observe, that* 1.961 when a Woman has conceived Twins, they are for the most part wrapt about with one Chorion; but that each Embryo has a distinct Amnion, and that there is contained in each Am∣nion, a distinct milkie Humour, as we find in Chessnuts and Almonds, the outward Shells of which, tho' they include two Kernels, yet each Kernel has its proper Tunicle whereby they are separated one from another. Now if it happen that the Amnions of Twins are broken by any blow, fall, bruise, or through any other means; or else were not sufficiently distinguished at the beginning, then the Embryo's in those Parts where they touch one ano∣ther grow together, and a Monster comes to be brought forth. But many times it also happens, that the distinct Embryo's are ensolded in distinct Cho∣•…•…ons.

VII. The reason of this was for∣merly* 1.962 altogether unknown; but since the discovery of Womens Ovaries and Eggs, it is easily explain'd. For as we often see in Hen Eggs two Yolks, with their distinct Whites, separated by a very thin Membrane, included in one hard Shell, and from such Eggs impregnated by the Cock and set under the Hen, rarely two and well form'd Chickens hatch'd, but frequent∣ly one monstrous Chicken, with four Wings and Feet, and two Heads; for that the Membranes being broken, the two Chickens being hatch'd toge∣ther grow into one. So it may hap∣pen in the Eggs of women, that two Eggs may be included in one harder Shell, which constitutes the Chorion: And then if the Membranes of the Am∣nios are strong enough, the Twins remain separated one from the other, and Na∣vels issuing from each, are inserted both together into one Placenta adhering to the Chorion, and at length brought to Maturity, come forth apart in the Delivery, and when the latter is come forth, there follows but one Secundine, which contained 'em both in the womb: Neither can there be two Placentae, be∣cause but one Placenta can be fasten'd to one Chorion. But if the Membranes of the Amnios were very weak and broken, then the Twins immediately resting one upon another, grew together by reason of the extream Softness of the bodies, and so being joyn'd toge∣ther come forth monstrous in the birth. But if it happen that two distinct ma∣ture Eggs impregnated with the male Seed, slip out of the womans Ovaries through the Fallopian Tubes into the Womb, then each Embryo comes to be included in distinct Membranes, Chori∣on, and Amnion; and each also, (of necessity to receive the Navel of each Embryo) have a distinct Placenta ad∣hering to its proper Amnion (as in Brutes that bring forth several at a time, every Embryo has a distinct and peculi∣ar Placentula) and come forth apart at the time of Delivery, their proper Se∣cundines following each; unless by chance the Placentae stick more closely to the Womb; and then at length being both together loosen'd, both the Secun∣dines follow after the Delivery of the Twins: And sometimes we have seen one Twin follow the other not till the next; or two days afterward. As in Twins, so it is when a woman has Con∣ceived three or four Children at a time, which Births are here very rare, but frequent in Scotland. From what has been said also arises the Solution of that Doubt concerning the number of Pla∣centae in Twins, when one, and when two or more are necessary: That is, one, when Twins are comprehended in one Chorion; two, when each are inclu∣ded in their proper Chorions: Which two nevertheless lye so close many times to one another, that they seem to be but one at first sight. For the umbili∣cal Vessels of each Twin, passing tho∣rough their proper Chorion and Amni∣on, ought to be presently inserted into the Placenta growing in the exterior part of that Chorion; to the end that by its means the Embryo may stick to the Womb. But they must not be inserted into the Placenta growing to the Chori∣on of another Birth, as being that which those Vessels do not immediately enter, nor so much as tend toward it.

VIII. These two Membranes, the* 1.963 Chorion and the Amnios, are vul∣garly thought to be Productions of the Membranes of the Abdomen of the Birth. For that the umbilical Ves∣sels proceeding from the Abdomen of the Birth, are included within two Membranes, constituting the lit∣tle

Gut: Of which the innermost, which is the thinner, is thought to be produced from the Peritoneum; the outermost, which is the thicker, from the Carnous Membrane These Membranes being dilated to the end of the Navel, and expanded about the Birth, out of the innermost the Amnion is said to be form'd, out of the Exterior the Chorion: And this is the Opinion of Harvey. Hippocrates also seems to inti∣mate the same thing, where he says, out of the Navel extended are form'd two Membranes. Who also saw in the Con∣ception of a singing Wench, a Mem∣brane produced from the Navel which contained the Conception. If any one object, that these Membranes are ge∣nerated before the parts of the Birth are delineated. I answer, that the Threads of the first Delineation, tho' they are not visible to the Eye, are yet in Being. For in a Hen-Egg we ob∣serve a little ruddy dancing Poynt (which is thought to be the Heart) which can∣not beat unless it receive something tho∣rough the Veins, and force it through the Arteries; and yet tho' neither the one or the other are visible, yet Rea∣son teaches us, that they are in Being. In like manner in a human Birth, tho' all the first Lineaments are not to be seen, yet they are there, and the Navel may be produced out of them, together with the Membranes infolding the Birth. If any one shall say that in a Hen-Egg there are Membranes before the Navel is delineated, nay before the Egg is set under the Hen: I answer, that in an Egg, before the Delineation of the Parts, all things requisite ought to be in readiness; which cannot be contributed by the Hen toward their De∣lineation; as in Creatures that bring forth live Conceptions they are prepa∣red by degrees together with the Deli∣neation. For these receive from the Womb of the Dam more Nourishment over and above to supply their Growth; from which Nourishment also these Membranes delineated out of the Female Seed receive their Growth.

These Opinions of Harvey pleased me also formerly, but after I saw, in the Abortions described C. 29▪ these Mem∣branes already form'd, nay very large and strong, before the Formation of the Birth begun, while the procreative Mat∣ter is collected in the Crystaline Bub∣ble; no Threads at all being as yet ex∣tended from the Bubble; and also in the beginning of the Embryo already form'd, a Foundation hardly conspicuous to bud forth out of the belly, nor any the least Delineaments of the Vessels extend∣ed from it through the Colliquation or dissolv'd Matter, toward the Mem∣branes; but the Embryo altogether free, nor joyn'd to any part swimming upon the Colliquation; and both Membranes already sufficiently strong, and wrap'd about the whole dissolv'd Matter, and furnished with conspicuous Vessels, I thought my self obliged to recede from that Opinion, and not without reason; in regard it was impossible that such strong Membranes, so conspicuous and so large, should be generated out of any invisible String (of which Harvey speaks) which never any Person could so much as dream to be form'd out of the Bub∣ble at first collected together.

IX. Therefore these Membranes do* 1.964 not arise from their Beginning; but are generated in the Womens Ova∣ries themselves out of the female Seed▪ as we have said c. 24. and are en∣compassed with Eggs. Which Eggs being afterwards discharged into the Womb, their outward Membranes swell, and the Chorion grows thicker (like Leather steep'd in Water) and being very much dilated, constitute these two Membranes, the Chorion and the Amnion. And as the out∣ward Shell of a Hen or other Birds Egg, before it be laid, sticks with a little Branch to the Ovary; so also in a wo∣man these Membranes by means of a Caruncle sticking to the Chorion, adhere not to the Ovary but to the Womb it self at the very beginning; as appears in the Abortions describ'd c. 29. and per∣haps in that very part where the Egg descends out of the Tube into the Womb; and embrace the whole dis∣solv'd Matter together with the Cry∣stalline Bubble collected therein; and so within their Walls, through the benigne Cherishing of the Uterine Heat, the Ar∣chitectonic Spirit latent in the Bubble, is set at Liberty, and roused into Action. As for those slender small Vasa Sanguisera, which from the beginning are seen di∣spersed through the Chorion (as we have observed in the forecited Abortions) I have observed them to be produced not from the Birth then not as yet form'd, or from the Crystalline Bubble, furnish∣ed as yet with no blood or blood-bear∣ing Vessels; but from that fleshy, spun∣gy, and plainly rubicund Particle, which at the upper part stuck to the Chorion,

and seem'd to be endamag'd without∣side, and as it were torn from the Womb (so that it might appear that the Chori∣on stuck to the Womb by means of it) which seem'd to receive those little Ves∣sels from the Vessels of the Womb by Continuation, and so send them to the Chorion.

X. Besides the foresaid Membranes,* 1.965 there is in Brutes that bring forth li∣ving Conceptions, a third Membrane found in form of a Bagg, very thin, and furnish'd with no visible Vessels. This by Galen and the ancient Physi∣cians is called 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, from 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, a kind of Pudding, like the Gut wherein Puddings use to be made. For according to Suidas, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉; is taken for 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 a Gut. Hence the Latins call it the Far∣ciminal, or Pudding Membrane, and sometimes the Intestinal or Gut Mem∣brane; tho' it does not in all Creatures retain the shape of a Pudding or Gut, but in many resembles a broad Swath.

XI. It is a most thin Membrane,* 1.966 smooth, hollow, soft, and yet thick, without any Vessels conspicuous to the Eye, by no means enfolding the whole Birth, extended to the utmost extre∣mity from one Horn of the Womb to the other, waxing slender at the ex∣tream Parts that enter the Horns of the Womb, till it end in a Point.

XII. It rises with a narrow Begin∣ning,* 1.967 where the Urachus or Passage of the Urine, continuous to it, opens in∣to its Hollowness, and presently dilates it self.

XIII. It is seated between the Cho∣rion* 1.968 and the Amnion, from which it may be easily separated.

XIV. Its Use is to collect the U∣rine* 1.969 of the Embryo, flowing out of the Bladder through the Urachus, and to preserve it till the time of De∣livery. From which use of it, Need∣ham calls it in all Creatures which have a Placenta, the Urinary Membrane.

XV. Its Bigness and Figure va∣ries* 1.970 according to the Difference of Creatures. For in some it resembles a Gut in shape and bigness, in others a broad Swath, and is much larger, as in a Cow, much more in a Mare, in which Creature it is every way fastened to the Chorion, and enfolds the whole Birth to∣gether with the Amnion. But as for its bigness and shape in Sows, Coneys, Doggs, and some other Creatures, Gualter Need∣ham exactly describes upon View. l. de format. Foet. And in the same place adds the whole discourse concerning it, and the manner of finding it out in Brutes.

XVI. Now seeing that Urine a∣bounds* 1.971 in the Conceptions of all Crea∣tures that bring forth living Births, while they remain in the Womb, and that there is a necessity for the same to be discharged out of the Womb, and reserv'd somewhere till the time of Delivery, the Question is whether this Membrane Alantois, be in all Crea∣tures, especially in Women? Aquapen∣dens says, that Women, Cats, and Bitches are destitute of this Membrane, as also are all other Creatures that have Teeth in both Jaws: And that the U∣rine of their Conceptions is collected in no peculiar Vessel, but flows out of the Urachus between the Chorion and the Amnion, and is there reserv'd till the time of Delivery. But our modern more quicksighted Anatomists have found it now in many of those Creatures who were deny'd it before. Yet do these very much question whether it be in Women. Harvey who overlook'd it in Brutes, denies any such thing in Women. On the other side, High∣more not only allows it to Brutes, but admits it in Women; and assigns it in them the same Use, which it is vulgarly said to have in Brutes: That is, to re∣ceive the Urine of the Embryo through the Urachus, and reserve it till the time of Delivery: And agreeing with Vesalius, says it is easy to be found, if in a bigg∣bellied Woman the Dissection should be begun from the Placenta, otherwise by reason of its extream Slenderness it is ea∣sy to be broken. But here Needham well observes, that Vesalius at the time that he wrote, had never dissected any wo∣man with Child (as he confesses him∣self in the same place) and therefore made a Judgment of women by what he observ'd in doggs: And describ'd a hu∣man Embryo wrap'd in the Secundines of a Whelp. But afterwards, when he had dissected a woman with Child, he changed his Opinion, and number'd but two Membranes in a woman, that is to say the Amnion and Alantois, reaching the Chorion not under the name of a Membrane, but of the whole Concepti∣on. In this Obscurity, the Quicksighted Needham gave us great Light, who de∣scribes not any Farciminal or Pudding∣like Membrane, such as the Alantois in many beasts, but a bagg quite of another Fashion, wherein the Urine of the Con∣ception

is collected and reserved till the time of Delivery. The Secundines, says he, being received by the Midwife, let 'em be laid in their proper Posture, as well as may be. Then taking a small Pack∣thread, follow it as far as the Amnion. This is fastened to the Packthread a lit∣tle below the Placenta, the rest hangs free. If the Amnion be fresh, you shall find the little Veins of it; otherwise they vanisht, the Blood being run out, and the Mem∣brane cold. This being left about the Packthread, go to the next Membrane, which if you prick withoutside about the Placenta, or tear the extream Edges with your Fingers, you shall find to be easily di∣vided into two; of which the outermost is porous and spungy, and full of little Veins; the innermost very slippery, and extreamly transparent, but void of Veins and Arte∣ries. That I take for the Chorion, this for the Urinary Tunicle. It cannot be call'd a folding or facing of the former, because of the dissimilitude of the Substance; but whether we look upon the Situation, Figure, or Substance of it, it is the same with the Urinary Membrane of all Pla∣centa breeding Animals. But it is not shap'd like the Alantois, neither is there any Membrane of that Figure in a Wo∣man. From which words it is apparent that there is no such Alantois allow'd to women as in beasts. But this also ap∣pears over and above, that Needham rightly and truly asserted the inner thi•…•… Membrane next adhering to the Cho∣rion, to supply the place of the Alantois in women, and that the Urine flow'd out of the bladder of the birth through the Urachus, between that and the Cho∣rion, where it is reserved till the time of Delivery. And this Invention of Gualter Needham's, Nicolas Hoboken found out, confirm'd, and describ'd, in most Secundines, lib▪ de Secund. Human.

XVII. Within the Amnion, be∣sides* 1.972 the Embryo, is contained cer∣tain milkie Liquor in great Quanti∣ty, very like to watery Milk, some∣what oylie, which Harvey calls the Colliquamentum, or dissolv'd Mat∣ter, in which the Embryo swims, and which sticks to it, when first born, all over the Body, and is usu∣ally washed off by the Midwife with warm Water, or Wine and Butter.

XVIII. But here I think it neces∣sary* 1.973 to distinguish between that Li∣quor wherein the Embryo at its first Delineation swims, and that wherein it swims afterward. For the first is the seminal Residue of the Mans and Womans Seed, and is well and truly call'd the dissolv'd Matter. But the lat∣ter is that, which when the former is consum'd, and the Navel being now brought to the Uterine Liver, flows through the Umbilical Vessels, and is a Juice meerly milkie, but watery, not to be call'd by the Name of Colliqua∣mentum.

Here by the way, we may take no∣tice of the Error of Fabricius, and some others, who thought that same unctu∣ous Uncleanness sticking to the body of the Child new born, to be an Excre∣ment of the third Concoction, made in the whole habit. As also of that Mis∣take of Claudius de la Courvee, who lib. de nutrit. foet, writes that it is nothing else than an Excrement, falling from the Brain through the Mouth and Nostrils. But it was nothing but the Ignorance of the Nature and Use of the milkie Liquor contained in the Am∣nion that produc'd these Errors.

XIX. Concerning the Liquor in the* 1.974 Amnion, there are two different O∣pinions of the Physicians: While some think it to be the Urine, others the Sweat of the Conception. But neither of the two have hit the Mark.

XX. That it is not Urine, appears* 1.975 by this, for that this Liquor is found in the Birth new form'd, in great a∣bundance, whereas so small an Em∣bryo never discharges any Urine. Nay, for that it is found in the Amnios before the birth is form'd; whereas there can nothing of Urine flow from the Crystalline Bubble.

XXI. That it is not sweat, is hence* 1.976 apparent, that before the Birth is form'd and perfected, or else from the beginning of the Formation of the Birth, it is impossible that Sweat so unctuous, and thick, and in so great abundance should flow from so small an Embryo, which exceeds in quan∣tity, ten times or more, the little Bo∣dy of the Embryo.

Moreover, if this Liquor were an Ex∣crement, whether Urine or Sweat, or any thing else, it would encrease as the Birth grows. But ocular Inspection teaches us the contrary. For in Sheep it so manifestly abates by degrees, as the Birth enlarges, that a little before the Lamb is yean'd, there is hardly any remaining; tho' it abounded at the be∣ginning.

Lastly, Sweat and Urine are acrimonious Excrements, wherein if the tender Embryo, covered with an extra∣ordinary thin and soft Skin, should swim for nine or ten Months together, it would be much injured by that Acri∣mony. As we find the Skin of new born I•…•…fants to be many times very much corroded by the Sharpness of the U∣rine: tho' their Skin be much harder and firmer than the Skin of the Birth in the Womb.

XXII. Riolanus, Anthropog. l.* 1.977 6. c. 7. acknowledges this Liquor to be the Sweat of the Birth; but c. 8. he says it is the Steam of the arteri∣ous Blood fuming from the Heart, and so turn'd into that Water that surrounds the Birth. Which if it were true, that Liquor ought to be at the beginning, whereas there is none or ve∣ry little blood as yet, neither can be a∣ny or very little, but is more and more increased as the birth enlarges: Where∣as on the contrary it abounds very much at the beginning, and from that time forward abates by degrees: And how little is to be found in Sheep after yean∣ing, has been said already.

XXIII. Therefore this Liquor con∣tain'd* 1.978 in the Amnios, is no Excre∣ment, but an Alimentary Humour, and nourishes with its Matter, out of which at the Beginning is taken the Nourishment of all and singular the Parts of the Embryo: And hence follows their Encrease. For it is the next Nourishment wherewith the Birth is nourished at first. For therein it is found to swim, before the Uterine Liver manifestly appears, from which at length being enlarged, the Umbilical blood-bearing Vessels mani∣festly suck forth blood; with which a∣lone, if the birth were to be nourished, it would for some time at the beginning want all manner of Nourishment, nei∣ther would there be any Alimentary Matter to supply the first Growth of the Parts. But hence also it appears to be a nutritious Humour, and to be taken in at the Mouth by the Birth, for that in Colour, Tast, and Consistency it dif∣fers little or nothing from that Liquor which is found in the Stomach of the Birth.

XXIV. In the first forming of the* 1.979 Birth this Liquor is nothing else but the Seed of the Woman (like the white of an Egg) inclosed in the Egg, mix'd with the Residue of the Mans Seed being dissolv'd. After∣wards when the umbilical Vessels are grown to their just length, and entered the Uterine Liver, then is the milkie Juice carried thither through the mil∣kie Umbilical Vessels from the milk∣bearing Cells of the Womb, whose whitish Colour, sweetish Tast, and like∣ness of Substance little differ from the Chylous Liquor, somewhat mix'd with the Lympha, and which is found in the Pectoral Chylifer Channel, and its Recep∣tacle. Whence it is altogether pro∣bable, that it is the purer part of the Chylus, somewhat watery by its Mix∣ture with the Lympha, carried from the Mother to the Hollowness of the Amni∣os, through the Passages mentioned in the foregoing Chapter; nay it is plea∣sing to the Tast, like watery Milk; for which we do not take so much the Judg∣ment of our own Tast, but Harvey's Proof from this, that almost all brute Creatures that bring forth living Con∣ceptions, lick it up from their young ones newly brought forth, and swallow it; whereas they never touch the Ex∣crements of the Birth.

Wharton writes, that it is a Liquor* 1.980 poured forth from the Nerves within the Amnion; perchance, because that being deceived by the white Colour, he took the milky Vessels to be Nerves.

Needham thinks that it is a milky Li∣quor carried thither through the •…•…e∣ries, somewhat mixed with the Ner∣vous Liquor: which Opinion we resute, l. 2. c. 12.

XXV. Nicolas Hoboken also* 1.981 asserts this Liquor to be carried tho∣rough the Arteries, tho' after another manner. For tho' up and down in o∣ther places of his book de secund. Hu∣man. he writes that he could not ob∣serve any blood-bearing Vessels in the Amnios: Yet in his Treatise de secund. Vitul. he writes that the Arteries possess in a plentiful number the Tunicle of the Amnios, and that in that place there is a great Correspondence between them and very many small Glandules, not only in great number besieging the outer parts of the little String, but the inner parts of the Amnios: So far forth as by means of those little Glandules, the Ar∣terious blood carried thither, is affected and prepared, that the said Liquor may be thence conveighed to the Hollow of the Amnios. But he does not add what Alteration it undergoes, nor does he a∣ny way prove that Correspondence

which he supposes by Conjecture. Moreover in many parts, by means of the Glandules the Lympha is separated from the blood, as Choler in the Liver, the splenetic Juice in the Spleen, &c. But it was never heard that any Juice which is not in that blood▪ could be se∣parated from it, or that the Arterious Blood could be changed into milkie Juice.

XXVI. Here we meet with one Dif∣ficulty,* 1.982 that is to say, that the mil∣kie Vessels, as well those that come from the Mother to the Womb, as those that run from the Birth to the Womb, are never to be seen, But no Man will make a wonder of this, who sees how easily all blood-bearing Ves∣sels, even the Chyle-bearing Pectoral Channel, which is somewhat bigger, ly hid when empty; and sometimes the Lymphatic Vessels being empty'd dis∣appear, so that they neither be discern'd or found any more. He also that has observ'd how invisible those Passages are through which sometimes in the Dropsy the serous Humours of the Abdomen, and in the flowing of the Whites, that vast Sink of the Vitious Humours is emptyed through the Womb, from the Liver, Mesentery, and other Vessels of the Abdomen. So also these milkie Uterine and Umbilical Channels, with∣out Question, are very small, and in dead women evacuated, and thence they have hitherto so long layn hid, that they have scap'd the Sight of the Ana∣tomists. Of which nevertheless there have not long since been some Disco∣veries made, which some Persons not dreaming of the milkie Vessels, have ta∣ken for Lymphatics, others for diminu∣tive Nerves.

XXVII. Charleton reports that* 1.983 Vanhorn, a famous Anatomist of Leyden, in an Epistle to Thomas Bartholin, wrote that he observ'd two milkie Branches descending toward the Separation of the great Artery, extended to the Seat of the Womb near the Crurals. Something also to this purpose has Anthony Everard obser∣ved in Coneys: For he writes that in a Coney with young, he observ'd some milk-bearing Channels, arising from the descending Trunk that run along together with the Spermatic Vessels to the parts serving for Generation. Deu∣singius gives a clear ocular Description of these Vessels; de hum. Corp. Fab. p. 7. c. 3. For, says he, that there are mil∣kie Vessels also belong to the Womb, con∣veighing Alimentary Iuice to the Birth, we have not only in another place, by most solid Arguments demonstrated; but observ'd by ocular Inspection in Bitches Whelps innumerable diminutive milkie Branches running through the broad Liga∣ments of the Womb, to the Horns them∣selves, and the whole Body of the Womb. Moreover we observ'd in the Year 1655. a little milkie Branch entring together with the Umbilical Vessels through the Navel of the Whelps contained in the Womb. And as in other Creatures so there is no Question to be made but there is in Women. But tho' we have not hitherto seen these milkie Conveigh∣ances to the womb, however it suffices for the Demonstration of the Truth, that they have been discovered by more quick-sighted Anatomists; and that al∣so it may be demonstrated by most certain Arguments, that of necessity they must be there, tho' they are seldom conspicuous. 1. Because there is a great Similitude in Colour, Tast, and Substance between the Liquors of the Chyle-bearing Pectoral Channel and the Amnios. 2. Because in breeding Wo∣men, a certain Chylous Milkie Liquor flows in great abundance from the womb. As has been observ'd and seen by An∣drew Laurentius, Zacutus, Lusitanus and others. 3. For that colour'd Liquors being swallowed down, come presently to the womb, which cannot penetrate thither so suddainly through any other than the milkie Vessels conceal'd and devious from the rest. Thus writes Iohn Heurnius, that upon the giving of Saf∣fron in Broths, a Woman brought forth a Child stain'd with a Saffron Colour. Also Henrie ab Heers reports, That a Woman having swallowed Saffron, with∣in half a quarter of an Hour brought forth a Child stained with a yellow Co∣lour. Which Colour could not pos∣sibly reach so soon to the womb and the birth, unless together with the Chylus, it were carried thither, through certain milkie Vessels devious from the rest. For if the Saffron were first to be con∣cocted in the Heart, and then to be carried thither with the Blood, it would lose its Colour. Or grant it still to be retained, yet it would require the In∣terval of some Hours before it could come to the womb. Concerning this Matter see some other things said c. 18. whereby the remarkable Experiment try'd by Herdotius in a Bitch with Puppy, this same devious Passage of the milky Juice to the womb is made very

apparent, and there illustrated with o∣ther Observations.

XXVIII. Here we are to take no∣tice* 1.984 of the mistake of Curveus, who writes, that at the beginning there is a Humour in great abundance collected between the Chorion and the Amnios, and that that being filter'd through the Membrane of the Amnion, pene∣trates to the inner hollowness of the Amnion; and that this inner Iuice differs not from the other, but only in its thinness caus'd by the same filtration. Whereas the Humour, which is found without the Amnion, is not contain'd simply in the Chorion, but between the Chorion and the Urinary Membrane; neither is there any at the beginning in that part to be filter'd, whereas from the very beginning the moisture mode∣rately abounds in the Amnion; and whereas the inner Juice is not thinner, but much more thick and viscous than that which afterwards increases between the Chorion and the Urinary Membrane. Moreover, the milky Juice of this Am∣nion, being boyl'd, grows to the consi∣stence of a Gelly, but the other without the Amnion thickens without any boyl∣ing. The first is apparent by the Expe∣riment of Rolfinch, Lib. 6. Dissert. Anat. c. 32. Where, says he, We boyl'd the Humours wherein the Birth swims with a gentle heat, when the thinner Particles be∣ing consum'd, that which remain'd at the bottom was clammy like Glue. The Hu∣mours upon the Tongue taste somewhat sweetish, so that this glutinous Substance is grateful to the taste; neither is there any thing of luxivious or salt in it. But it does not only grow thick and viscous by boyl∣ing, but also the Cold congeals it to a moderate thickness and viscosity, by which I have seen this Juice thicken'd in the Umbilical Intestine to the thickness of a perfect Gelly, and in the Amnion to the consistency of the white of an Egg.

XXIX. Now tho' it may seem to be* 1.985 a thing unquestionable that this milky Iuice is carried through some milky Vessels from the Mother to the Womb, and from that through the milky Vessels of the Placenta, within the hollowness of the Amnion, yet from what part of the Mother, and from whence these milky Vessels proceed toward the womb, has been hitherto discovered by no body that I know of. Some by uncertain Conjectures believe that they are extend∣ed thither from the Thoracic Chyle∣bearing Chanel, others from the Chyle∣bearing Bag, others from the Sweet-bread. Of which, if any clear demonstration could be made out, the Question would be at an end. Ent most couragiously endeavours to dispel this Cloud of Dark∣ness, Apol. Digress. 5. where he writes, That this Liquor is deriv'd from no in∣ner milky Vessels, but that it flows from the Womans breasts to the womb, and that the birth is nourish'd with the Mo∣thers milk, no less within than without the womb: and for this reason he believes the Teats of brute Beasts to stand so near the womb; to the end the milk may flow from them more easily to the womb. But as for the passage which way, he takes no great care: For he writes that the Milk descends from the breasts through the Mamillary Veins, and from thence into the Epigastrics, joyned to them by Anastomosis, and through those flows down to the womb. But that he may not seem to contradict Circulation altogether, he says, That it may happen without any prejudice, that there may be a Flux contrary to the usual Circulation through some Veins, if there be a new Attractor. He adds, That it is for this reason that the Milk is generated in the breast so long before delivery; that is so soon as the Woman quickens. So that if the Milk did not flow to the birth, the Woman would be very much prejudic'd, and the Blood being detain'd for three or four Months together would be corrupted. Last∣ly, he a•…•…nexes the Authority of Hippo∣crates, who says, Aph. 5. 37. If the breasts of a Woman with child suddainly fall and grow lank, she miscarries. For, says Ent, when the Milk fails in the breast, there can be no nourishment afforded to the birth in the womb, which for that reason dies, and is thrown out by Abortion.

XXX. But tho' these things are* 1.986 speciously propounded by Ent, yet there are many things that subvert the learn∣ed Gentleman's Argument.

• 1. Because that milky Liquor abounds within the Amnion, before any thing of Milk be generated in the breasts.
• 2. Because it is impossible that the blood should be carried upward, and the milky Juice downward at the same time through the Mammillary and Epi∣gastric Veins.
• 3. Because that between the Mam∣millary and Epigastric Veins there are no such Anastomoses as he proposes.
• 4. For that the milky Liquor of the Breasts passing through those blood-con∣veighing

• passages, would lose its white colour by its mixture with the blood, and so it would not be found to be white, but red in the Amnion.
• 5. For that the feeble heart of a small Embryo could never be able to draw this milky Juice from the Mothers breasts: besides that, there is no such distant at∣traction in the body of Man, and whe∣ther there be any such at a nearer di∣stance, is much to be question'd.
• 6. For that the Milk, from the one half of the Womans time, till the time of Delivery, never remains in the breast, but entring the Mammillary Veins, toge∣ther with their blood, is carried in the order of Circulation to the Vena Cava, as the Chylus reaches thither through the Subclavial Vein, which is the reason it is neither corrupted, nor does the Wo∣man any prejudice at all.
• 7. As to Hippocrates his affirming the lankness of the breast to be a sign of A∣bortion; for this in a Woman shews that either the Chylus is defective, or that it is all carried to the heart, and none to the womb or breasts. Hence Hippocrates concludes, That if formerly the Chylus flow'd in great abundance to the breasts, they dry up of a suddain, as appears by the lankness of the breasts, much more will that fail which is carried in a lesser quantity to the womb, for the nourish∣ment of the tender birth, and that through much narrower Vessels, and so of necessity the birth must dye for want of nourishment, and be cast forth by A∣bortion.

XXXI. From all which it is appa∣rent,* 1.987 that milky Iuice, let it come from what parts it will to the Womb, it does not come from the Breasts; and that their Opinion i•…•… most probable who believe it flows from the Chyle-bag, the Pectoral Passage, and other Internal Chyle-bearing Vessels, tho' there has been as yet no clear Demonstration of those Passages.

XXXII. Veslingius either not ob∣serving,* 1.988 or ignorant of the nourish∣ment of the Birth at the Mouth, as∣cribes to this milky Liquor of the Am∣nion a use of small Importance. For he says that it only preserves the tender Vessels of the Embryo swimming upon it, in the violent Motions of the Mother; and when the time of Delivery ap∣proaches, that it softens and loosens the Maternal places by its Efflux, to render the passage of the Infant more easie: Moreover, he thinks it to be the more watery part of the Womans Seed, as we have said before Cap. 28.

XXXIII. The Amnios, Urinary* 1.989 Membrane and Chorion, at the Ca∣runcle in Abortions describ'd Cap. 29. sticks close one to another (where they transmit the Umbilical Vessels toward the Uterine Liver) but every where else they lye loosely only at the beginning of the Conception; and when at length the Umbilical Vessels have pass'd those Membranes, then through the flowing in of the Urine of the birth through the Urachus, the Urinary Membrane begins to recede from the Chorion (which till that time seemed to be the inner part of the Chorion; and between that and the Chorion the urinary serous Humour be∣gins daily to increase, as the birth grows; so that near the time of Delivery it is there to be found in great quantity.

XXXIV. This Urinary Liquor Rio∣lanus* 1.990 denies to be there, and affirms that there is no Liquor to be found without side the Amnios. And so Veslingius seems never to have di∣stinctly observ'd it; for he says that no Humour can be collected together between the Membranes of the birth, by reason of their sticking so close to∣gether. But Ocular inspection teache•…•… us that there is no such close Connexion, but only a loose Conjunction or Imposi∣on one upon another. The whole mi∣stake seems to have proceeded from hence, That it was not known that the Urinary Membrane containing the Uri∣nary Liquor, lay hid between the Cho∣rion and the Amnion, and drew back, and was extended from the Chorion upon the flowing in of the Urine of the birth. Whence many question'd whether any Liquor could be contain'd in that place: which Cloud is now dispell'd by Need∣ham's late Discovery of the Urinary Membrane.

XXXV. We have many times seen* 1.991 the said Urinaceous Humour contain∣ed between the Chorion and the Uri∣naceous Membrane, manisestly sepa∣rated from the Liquor of the Amnios in such Brutes where it is collected in the Alantois: and in Bitches, the demonstration of the separation is easie to be made. For if you take a Puppy by the head, as yet wrapt up in its Mem∣branes, you shall see these Humours by the means of the Membranes of the Alan∣tois and Amnion separated one from ano∣ther,

and the serous and turbulent Ha∣mour inclos'd in the Alantois, and so to remain between the Chorion and the Am∣nion, but that the other milky Juice is contain'd within the Amnion. Then o∣pen the Chorion with the Alantois, pre∣sently the outermost milky Juice flows forth, but the other milky Juice re∣mains in the Amnion. And thus we must conclude that the serous Urinary Hu∣mour in Human Conceptions is collected and reserv'd between the Chorion and the Urinary Membrane, but that the other milky Juice is enclos'd within the Amni∣on. And that we lately demonstrated in a Woman that had almost gone out her time, suddainly choak'd with a Ca∣tarrh; finding the watery Urinary Li∣quor to a great quantity inclos'd between the Chorion and the thin Urinary Mem∣brane, which we then thought to be the Alantois; the other milky Juice re∣siding within the Amnion; tho' there was not so great a quantity of it. This was the first body where I thought I had seen any shadow of an Alantois, but after∣ward, by the preceding demonstration of Needham, I perceiv'd there was no Alantois in Women, like the Alantois in Beasts; but that the Urinary Mem∣brane supply'd its place.

XXXVI. Now what this serous* 1.992 Humour is, contain'd between the Chorion and the Urinary Membrane, till our very times, both Physicians and Anatomists, have been in great doubt: And this in certainty begat 2 Opinions. According to the first, many believ'd that it was not some Excrement, but a kind of Humour like Butter-milk, less nou∣rishing than that contain'd in the Amnion; and that the purer part of it serv'd for the nourishment of the birth, and was carried to it through the little Fibres of the Umbilical Vessels extended thither according to Harvey's Observation: but that the more unprofitable part was re∣serv'd for the preservation of the birth till the Delivery; by its softness to de∣fend the birth from External Injuries, and to moisten and make slippery the privy parts in time of Travail. According to the other Opinion, others thought that this Humour was the Urine of the Child, discharg'd through the Urachus, and re∣ceiv'd by degrees between the Chorion and the Urinary Membrane, there to be reserv'd till the time of Delivery, to moi∣sten the Female parts, and render them slippery, for the more easie passage of the birth. For the latter of these Opi∣nions we give our voice; because it is al∣together necessary, that all the parts of the birth being form'd, the Kidneys should perform their duty, and separate the superfluous copious Serum from the blood. For the nutriment of the birth, that is the blood and the milky Juice, is very serous, that being the more liquid and fluid, they may pass with more ease to the birth, and be the better digested by the new-form'd Bowels. But it was requisite that superfluous Serum should be separated from the profitable Juice, to forward the growth of the parts, which would otherwise be altogether serous, and render the birth distended with an Anasarca. Now the Kidneys separate that serous Excrement, out of which it slides through the Ureters into the Blad∣der, wherein it is to be found in great quantity in Embryo's of five or six Months growth, wherein all things ap∣pear more clearly to the Eye. But it flows not out of the Bladder through its Orifice, because at that time the over∣straitned Sphincter does not transmit the Urine: For such was the Supream Creators pleasure, lest the Urine flow∣ing out of the Genitals, should be ming∣led with the milky Juice which the birth takes in at the Mouth, and defile, corrupt, and render it unfit for Nourishment. And therefore another passage was pro∣vided for it thorough the Urachus, rising from the bottom of the Bladder toward the Navel. Which tho' in Men born it be consolidated in the shape of a Liga∣ment, like the Umbilical Vein growing out of the liver of the birth; yet while the birth is included in the womb, it is always penetrable, and sufficiently con∣spicuous as far as the Navel; and con∣veys and pours forth the Urine out of the Bladder between the Chorion and the Urinary Membrane, there to be reserv'd till the time of Delivery.

XXXVII. They that do not agree* 1.993 with us in this Opinion, are wont to say, That this serous Humour is found very plentiful between the Membranes at the beginning of the Formation of the Birth. Even Deusingius himself following the Opinion of Harvey, writes▪ That then it exceeds in quantity a hundred times any other Humour contain'd in the Amnion, and therefore it cannot be U∣rine; but that of necessity it is a Humour very requisite for the nourishment and secu∣rity of the birth, tho' not so good as that other which is contain'd in the Amnion. But these are meer Figments altogether contrary to Experience. For in the be∣ginning of the Formation of the birth,

this Humour appears not at all, but a∣bout the fourth Month a very little is to be seen; and from that time forward, as the Birth and the Reins increase, and the Kidneys do their Office, so much the more it augments. But herein appears their mistake, that while they labour to defend their Opinion with great heat, they do not distinguish between the Se∣rous Humour excluded out of the Am∣nion, and the milky Juice abiding with∣in the Amnion; and by means of the Urinous Membrane, and the Tunicle of the Amnion it self, separated from the Serum it self. Moreover, they do not take notice that the milky Juice is that which from the beginning of the birth is most plentiful, neither unpleasing to the taste or smell; and is so consum'd for the most part in many Brutes, that there is nothing hardly remaining at the time of the birth. Whereas on the o∣ther side, the other Serous Humour is not to be seen at the beginning of the Formation; but afterwards appears in a small quantity, and so augments by de∣grees. Neither has it any thing of a whitish colour, but gains both colour, taste and smell, as it increases, and at length, at the time of Delivery, comes away in great quantity, and with a strong smell. Wherein if the birth had im∣mediately swam in the womb, the tender little body had suffer'd no small preju∣dice without side, by reason of its Acri∣mony; nor less within side, for that be∣ing continually swallow'd in at the Mouth down the Stomach, it must needs have extreamly afflicted the Em∣bryo.

XXXVIII. The less attentive consi∣deration* 1.994 of this Matter deceiv'd Rio∣lanus also, who did not observe that there were two and two plainly distinct Humours, of different Natures, con∣tain'd between the Membranes, but took 'em both together for one and the same Humour, which he thought resi∣ded within the Amnion. Which mistake of his is apparent by what has been said already.

CHAP. XXXII. Of the Navel-string, its Use, and the Nourishment of the Birth.

I. THE Membranes infolding* 1.995 the Birth being open'd, the Navel comes to be seen, so call'd from Umbo, signifying the Boss of a Shield, because it is in the middle of the Belly, or the Center of the lower Belly; by the Greeks call'd 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, and by Ari∣stotle 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, the root of the Belly. Some, with Galen, have asserted it to be the Center of the whole Body, which Vesalius places better in the joyning toge∣ther of the Share-bones.

II. The Navel-string is a membra∣nous* 1.996 winding and unequal Chanel ri∣sing from the mediety of the Abdomen of the Birth toward the Uterine Li∣ver, conspicuously long, and when the Birth is fully mature three spans, rare∣ly half an Ell in length; and about a fingers breadth in thickness. Which longitude and laxity was requisite at first, to the end the Birth now become strong∣er in the womb, should not break the Navel with its tumbling and kicking; but come more easily into the World without breaking it, and the remaining Secundines sticking to it, be more easily drawn forth.

III. It turns back for the most part* 1.997 above the Breast, and produces it self toward the left from the hinder part of the Head to the Forehead, and hence proceeding to the Uterine Liver, is joyn'd to it by the Vessels contain'd in it, and the Membranes. Some∣times it proceeds forward toward the right side, hence it winds about the Neck, and so descends to the Placenta. Sometimes I have observ'd it turn'd back above the Breast, toward the hin∣der Parts and Back, never coming at all to the Neck; for Nature wonderfully varies in its situation. Even very lately I found it above the Breast and Head, and evolv'd about the left Foot. Rarely as Skenkius observ'd in a difficult Labour of his own Wife, that the Navel should wind about the Neck of the Birth, with two or three Circumvolutions. More rare what Hoboken observes of a Birth,

whose Navel was wound four times a∣bout the Neck, the Head being next the Placenta; which Birth having bro∣ken the Membranes, came forth with the Secundine altogether.

IV. The Navel-string consists of* 1.998 Vessels, and a little Pipe containing Vessels, call'd the Diminutive Gut.

The Umbilical Vessels, which pro∣ceed from the Birth, are usually reckon'd to be four; one Vein, two Arteries, and the Urachus. But to these the milky Vessels are necessarily to be added, through which the milky Liquor is con∣veyed from the little Caverns of the womb into the hollow of the Amni∣on.

V. A Vein larger than the Arteries* 1.999 rises from the Liver of the Birth, out of the Cleft of which it goes forth to the foundation of the Vena Cava, of which it is a Sprig; and thence pas∣sing the Navel, it runs through the Navel-string to the Placenta, into which it is ingrafted with many roots. Harvey deduces its first Original from the Heart, but erroneously; for it comes not to the Heart, but by the means of the Vena Cava. And so its Original is rather to be deriv'd from the Vena Cava, and the Original of the Vena Cava from the Heart.

VI. It has been hitherto the vulgar* 1.1000 Opinion, that the Blood flowing from the Placenta, is pour'd forth into the Liver of the Birth, and there farther concocted to the highest perfection of Blood. On the other side, Harvey writes, That there is no use of the Liver in the Embryo, and that therefore this Vein passes entirely through the Liver di∣rectly to the Vena Cava; and so that the Umbilical Blood suffers no alteration nei∣ther in the Liver, but flows directly through that into the Vena Cava, and thence to the Heart, there to be dilated into a more spirituous Blood. Riolanus asserts quite another thing, That the Umbilical Vein is twofold in the Liver, and equally commu∣nicates as well to the Porta, as the Cava, and that he learn'd it by manifold Experi∣ence. Dominic de Marchettis testifies al∣so, That he once saw the same thing: And Frederic Ruysch, That he discover'd and shew'd it in the Liver of a Calf newly calv'd. And so they believe that some part of the Umbilical Blood is emptied into the Liver, and the other half pour'd forth into the Vena Cava. At first sight Reason seems to perswade us to give great credit to Harvey. For that the Ferment, which in Men born, by reason of the harder Nourishments that are to be dissolv'd, ought to be more sowr and sharp, is made in the Liver and Spleen: But in the Birth, where in respect of the softer Nourishment it ought to be more mild, it is made in the Uterine Placenta, so that there is little or no use of the Li∣ver and Spleen; nor of the Lungs; but that those Vessels chiefly grow, and are reserv'd for future uses: and hence it may seem probable that the Blood passes di∣rectly through the Liver to the Vena Cava, without any remarkable altera∣tion, and thence directly to the Heart. This Glisson seems more strongly to con∣firm, who describes a certain veiny Cha∣nel in the Liver, which easily admits an indifferent Probe; open in Children new born, and Embryo's; in Men grown al∣ways shut; which tends directly to the Vena Cava, and is given to that end that it should bring the Stream of Blood flowing through the Umbilical Vein in∣to the Vena Cava. Which last cannot be true, seeing that all the Spermatic parts, of which one of the principal is the Liver, are delineated together; and that this Liver is first conspicuous among the rest of the Bowels, afterwards the Heart, long before the Umbilical Vein, and in a short time grows to a remarka∣ble and conspicuous bigness. But tho' the aforesaid Reasons seem very plausi∣ble for Harvey and Glisson's Opinion; yet that Riolanus and Ruysch were much more in the right, I could easily prove by my own Observation. For that I might understand this matter more cer∣tainly, I resolved to try an Experiment upon a Still▪born Infant: To that pur∣pose having open'd the Abdomen with the Breast, I blew through a Straw thrust into the Umbilical Vein, and observ'd that presently I blew the Heart and the Lungs, yet so that the Liver also receiv'd somewhat of the breath; without doubt through the lateral little Branch taken notice of by Riolanus and Ruysch, and inserted into the Liver or Vena Porta; which tho' in the first Months it be so slender, that it is hardly discernable, nevertheless 'tis most likely that after∣wards this little Vessel increases with the rest of the Parts, and contributes more Blood to the Liver, towards its swifter growth, the better to prepare and fit it for its future Office; which for some time it begins in the womb before Deli∣very, as is apparent from the Gall, which is found in the Gall-bladder of a Child born perfect, but in an Abortion

of six or seven Months, and in the Excre∣ments of Children newly born. For the Liver does not presently after the Deli∣livery, as it were, skip to its office of bi∣lious Fermentation, but is us'd to it by degrees in the womb.

VII. The Umbilical Vein therefore* 1.1001 conveys the Blood prepar'd in the Pla∣centa to the Birth; the return of which into the Placenta is prevented by several Valves looking toward the Birth, and sustaining the violence of the Blood, endeavouring to flow back. Nevertheless these Valves, by reason of their extraordinary slenderness, can hard∣ly be demonstrated; but that they are there, we have just reason to conclude, because the Blood cannot be squeez'd with the finger from the Birth toward the Placenta, but may easily be squeez'd toward the Birth. Nicholas Hoboken writes, That he could find no genuine Valves in the Umbilical Vein, but that he observ'd several winding inequalities; and near the Placenta saw a Caruncle, or rather a little membranous separating fold, so situated according to the length and depth of the Vein, as to terminate the veiny spread∣ing forth of the Branches, and seem'd to supply the place of a little Valve; which he calls Analogous to the Valve.

VIII. Here we are to take notice of* 1.1002 the mistake of John Claudius de la Curvee, who believ'd there was no∣thing conveyed to the Birth through the Umbilical Vein from the Uterine Placenta, but that quite the contrary, the Blood flow'd from the Birth to the Placenta; because this Vein grows from the Birth first, and proceeds to the Placenta, therefore, says he, the Blood must first flow into the Pla∣centa, and so be carried toward its own End inserted into the Placenta. But not only the foresaid Valves plainly demonstrate Curveus's Error, but also the trial made by a Ligature, of which in due place. Besides, his Reason drawn from the Original of the Umbilical Vein, is of no moment; for the begin∣ning of the Production does not argue the beginning of the Use; but its apti∣tude for any farther use. Thus the Ve∣na Cava, according to Harvey, is pro∣duced from the Heart, nevertheless the Blood does not flow from the Heart, into the hollow Vena Cava, but out of the Vena Cava into the Heart: Thus the Roots of Plants grow downward into the Earth; nevertheless the Nourishment is con∣veyed from them out of the Earth to the Plants, and not out of the Plants into the Earth.

IX. The Umbilical Vein does not* 1.1003 seem to be order'd after the same manner in Brutes as in Men. For Fabricius observes in a Bitch and a Cat, beside the Vein already mention'd, two other Umbilical Veins that pass away to the Mesenteric Veins, and open them∣selves into them. One near the Stomach, the other near the thick Guts. But Highmore writes that he has found in Cows an Umbilical Vein always double. Perhaps also there may be some diffe∣rence in other Creatures, which we leave for others to enquire.

X. The Umbilical Arteries, being* 1.1004 two, derive their Original from the Internal Iliac Branches of the great Artery, at the beginning of the spread∣ing of the Branches; from which be∣ing stretched forth upward toward the sides of the Bladder, and having got the Vein in their Company, they enter the Navel-string, and pass through it with a much more winding and looser Chanel than the Vein, and so these three Vessels, sometimes in order light∣ly twisted, sometimes opposed one to another only like a Triangle, pass tho∣rough the milky Gelly contained in the Navel-string, pass to the Uterine Li∣ver, into which they are ingraffed with innumerable Roots, and form therein a most wonderful Texture, and Net∣like Fold, which Bartholine seeing, says that those Vessels close one among another in the Placenta, with a won∣derful Anastomosis; which neverthe∣less is not very probable, neither can any body demonstrate the truth of it. Neither Carpus nor Fabricius make any mention of any Anastomosis; but only they observe about a Spans distance from the Birth, a more confus'd contexture of these three Vessels, and a ruder Con∣torsion. I my self formerly more accu∣rately intent in the examination of the Navel, found and shew'd sometimes a certain slight, sometimes no Contorsion at all, but that these Vessels, as it were, placed in a Triangle, and almost at an equal distance, disjoyn'd one from ano∣ther, passed directly through the Gelly of the Pipe of the Navel-string, as has been said.

XI. Harvey writes, that these Ar∣teries* 1.1005 are hardly to be found in the Embryo for the first Months, but that the Umbilical Vein is conspicuous long before these; and hence he be∣lieves that these Arteries are form'd later, and sometimes after the Vein. But it is more probable that these three Vessels are form'd and grow together, seeing that the Parenchyma of the Ute∣rine Placenta cannot be sufficiently enli∣vened without these Arteries, and rows'd into action; and also that there could be no use of the Umbilical Vein, unless the Vital Blood were carried first through the Arteries to the Placenta. But the reason why they are later conspicuous, is this, because they are much less and slen∣derer; for which reason, in most other parts, the small Arteries are not so dis∣cernable as the Veins: but that the large∣ness of the said Arteries is not always a∣like, but narrower near the little Nodes of the Pipe of the Navel-string, so that they seem to knit themselves into little knots, is the Observation of Hobo∣ken.

XII. Through these Arteries Blood* 1.1006 and Vital Spirit is conveyed, not from the Mother to the Birth, (as many with Galen believ'd,) but from the Birth, by the pressing forward of the Heart to the Uterine Liver, for the further Colliquation, after a more spe∣cific manner, of the Blood flowing from the Uterine Vessels, and to the end it may be concocted with it, that so Mat∣ter may be prepared and better fitted for the Nourishment of the Birth, which being carried through the Um∣bilical Vein to the Bowels of the Birth, may be more conveniently dilated in the heart of the Embryo, and ac∣quire new perfection of Blood.

XIII. Ocular Inspection clearly de∣monstrates* 1.1007 this motion of the Blood. For if the Navel of a living Embryo (as may be experimented in Beasts) be ty'd in the middle, the Pipe of the Navel-string being opened, presently the Arteries between the Embryo and the Liver, are seen to swell, and to be depriv'd of all motion; whereas on the other side the Vein swells between the Ligature and the Placenta, and flags toward the Birth: which shews that the Arterious Blood is forc'd from the Birth to the Placenta, and the Venal Blood from the Placenta to the Birth. Or the same thing may be try'd after another manner without a Li∣gature, if you squeez the Blood with your fingers through the Vein from the Placenta toward the Birth, for so it easi∣ly moves; but it cannot be forc'd the contrary way by reason of the resistance of the Valves: but the Blood is with great difficulty forc'd through the Arte∣ries to the Birth, whereas it flows rea∣dily, and of its own accord, to the Pla∣centa.

XIV. Many there are that write* 1.1008 several things of the Anastomoses of the Arteries with the Veins, and of the Veins with the Arteries, quite re∣pugnant to Ocular Inspection, seeing that no such Anastomoses can be found in the Placenta. Which Hoboken has accurately taken notice of, who by the injection of Liquor has per∣fectly examin'd this matter.

XV. Now what is to be thought of* 1.1009 the union of the Umbilical Veins and Arteries with the Womb, let us briefly enquire. Ga'en and Aristotle teach us, That the Orifices of the Umbilical Ves∣sels are united with the Ends or Orifices of the Vessels of the Wombs. So that the Roots of the Umbilical Vein draw Blood from the Veins of the Womb, and the Arteries Spirit from the Arteries. To which Opinion Aquapendens, Sen∣nertus, and several other famous Men, have submitted their consent: Others, confirm'd by Ocular Inspection, deny this union of the Vessels, with whom we also agree. For there are several Ar∣guments to shew that there are no Uni∣on or Anastomoses of the Umbilical Ves∣sels and the Womb.

• 1. Because such a Union of the Ves∣sels would bind the Birth so strongly to the Womb, as not to be dissolv'd in time of Travail. Or if by the violent strain∣ings of the Woman in Labour, it should be violently torn away, there would happen so many and such pernicious Wounds by the rending of the several united Vessels, that the Effusion of Blood would soon be the death of the Woman in Travail.
• 2. Because the Blood may descend by degrees into the Placenta through the gaping Vessels of the Womb, to be pre∣pared therein for the growth and nou∣rishment of the Child. But never any Anatomist hitherto could observe any farther productions of the Vessels of the

• Womb, either toward or into the Pla∣centa, so that whatever has been written concerning this matter, has been written by Conjecture.
• 3. Because that such a Union of the Vessels of the Womb and the Umbili∣cals being granted, there could be no use of the Uterine Placenta: for the Blood flowing through that continuity, nothing of it could either come into the Substance of the Placenta it self, or be elaborated therein.
• 4. Because the Umbilical Veins do not proceed to the Womb, but spread their Roots only through the Uterine Liver, and from thence, and not from the Womb, immediately assume the Alimentary Blood which is to be carried to the Womb; as Plants by means of their Roots suck up their Alimentary Juice out of the Earth.
• 5. Because the Arteries draw nothing from the Womb or its Arteries, but convey Vital Blood from the Birth to the Placenta, and end there in little Branches.
• 6. Because in the beating of the Um∣bilical Arteries, the measure is altogether different from the Pulse of the Mo∣ther.
• 7. Because it has sometimes happened, that the Mother being dead, the Birth has sometimes supervived in the Womb; which could never be, if the Birth should receive its Vital Blood from the Arteries of the Mother. For the Mothers Pulse failing, the Birth must dye either sooner, or at the same time.

XVI. Hence the mistake of Vesali∣us* 1.1010 and Columbus is apparent, who following Galen, thought that the Umbilical Vessels were not only joyn'd together with the Uterine Vessels, but also by continuation were deriv'd from them, and extended from the Womb to the Birth. Which Error is easily evinc'd by this, not to repeat what has been already said, That in the Abortive Embryo seen and describ'd by us, the be∣ginning of the Navel-string did not arise from the Womb, but from the Birth. Besides that, in Chickens the beginning of the Umbilical Vessels, manifestly a∣rises from the Chicken it self, which be∣ing separated into several Branches, are extended from the Chicken to the Yolk of the Egg. In like manner as in Vege∣tables the Roots are not extended out of the Earth into the Plants, but out of the Plants into the nourishing Earth: which is more apparent in Onions, which be∣ing hung up without the Earth, send forth Roots from themselves.

XVII. From the foresaid Opinion* 1.1011 proceeded another as absurd, That the Umbilical Veins and Arteries were generated and form'd before the rest of the Bowels, as Bauhinus endeavours to perswade by divers Reasons, as if the Bowels could not be form'd without blood conveyed from the Womb. Whereas among the more acute Phi∣losophers it is undoubtedly concluded that they are form'd of the Prolific part of the Seed, and that after their Forma∣tion already finish'd, the Nourishment of the said Vessels proceeds to the farther part from those Bowels, and hence they first grow to a greater length, and are ex∣tended to the Placenta.

XVIII. But here some one will make* 1.1012 a Query, How those Vessels, when they have grown out to that length, from the Belly of the Birth, as to reach the Membranes, can penetrate through the Chorion and Amnion to the Uterine Liver. I answer; 'Tis done after the same manner as the Roots of Plants and Trees penetrate into the hard Earth, and sometimes enter Walls and Stones, which Water cannot penetrate. For so the sharp and slender ends of the Umbilical Vessels, insinuate themselves by degrees into the Pores of the Membranes, and pass through 'em, tho' the Humours contain'd within the Membranes cannot pass thorough. But afterwards, when those Vessels adhering to the Pores grow out more in length, the said Pores are also more and more dilated, to which the Vessels are already united and indis∣solubly joyn'd.

XIX. Riolanus makes mention, out* 1.1013 of Avicen and Varolius, before the Generation of the Veins and Umbili∣cal Arteries, of two Capillary Vessels, which he calls the Dorsal Roots of the Birth; which are from each horn of the Womb, inserted into the upper and hinder part of the coagulated Seed, through which necessary Blood is sup∣plied to the Formation of the Parts, in the mean while that the Umbilical Vessels are strengthened; and which afterwards vanish when the Foundati∣ons of the Parts are laid. But that these are mere Figments is apparent from hence; because the Birth is neither form'd nor generated out of the coagulated, but melted and dissolved Seed, and out of

the subtile part of that, which is call'd the Flower. Besides, these Dorsal Roots would be to no purpose, when the Parts ought to be delineated out of the Proli∣fic Flower only of the Male Seed, which is apparent from the Egg, wherein tho' there be no Blood contain'd, nor can be supply'd from any other place, yet the Parts are form'd, and being form'd ge∣nerate Blood out of the obvious Ali∣mentary Matter, wherewith all the deli∣neated Parts are nourish'd, increase and come to perfection. We should now speak of the milky Umbilical Vessels, but that we have so largely discoursed of 'em already, Cap. 30. However, this I add, or rather repeat, that Gualter Needham seems to acknowledge no mil∣ky Vessels in this place, for he assigns a∣nother way to this milky Liquor: For that being concocted in the Stomach of the Mother, and mix'd with the Blood, and circulated with it through the San∣guiferous Vessels, it is in that manner carried to the Womb, and there mix'd with the Blood of the Birth, and then that part of the Maternal Blood, that wants not any farther Concoction and Fermentation, is converted into the Blood of the Birth, but that the rest of the nutricious milky Juice, that wants a farther Concoction, is separated from it, and laid up in the Amnion, as matter of future Nourishment, to be carried through the Mouth into the Ventricle of the Stomach, and there to be dige∣sted. Which Opinion we have refuted more at large Cap. 30.

XX. The fourth Umbilical Vessel* 1.1014 manifestly conspicuous, is the Urachus or Urinary Vessel, a thin, membra∣nous round little Body, having a lit∣tle hollow passage quite through it, ri∣sing from the bottom of the Bladder to the Navel, in the midst between the Vein and the Arteries.

XXI. This in most Brute Animals* 1.1015 of the larger size, being manifestly pervious, and by the Observation of Hoboken, furnished with no Valves, is carried to the Urinary Membrane above describ'd (for in lesser Animals the Passage of it is hardly discernable) between which and the Chorion, the Urine of the Birth is emptied into it, there to be reserv'd till the Time of De∣livery. Hieronymus Fabricius writes, that this Vessel in most brute Animals, where it rises out of the bladder, is but only one Passage or Chanel; but where it farther extends it self without the Abdomen toward the Alantois, it is di∣vided into many small Fibres, which is the Reason that the Urine flows in∣to the Pipe of the Navel-string, but does not easily flow back into the Ura∣chus, tho' you endeavour to force it back. So likewise Needham observes, That in the Bladder of larger Beasts there is a Liquor found like to that which is contain'd in the Alantois, and that if a Pipe be adapted to the Blad∣der, the Wind will be blown into the Alantois.

XXII. But in Man the Extension* 1.1016 of the Urachus is observ'd no far∣ther than the Navel only, beyond which no farther progress of it was ever demonstrated by any Anatomists. And hence it has been concluded by most, That the Urachus is only extend∣ed to the Navel, and serves for the Li∣gament of the bottom of the Bladder, and that it is not pervious quite tho∣rough. Which Arantius asserts in down∣right terms: In my Opinion, says he, that which seems in the Human Bladder to bear the form of a Chanel or Ura∣chus, is no other than a Ligament of the Bladder, which being somewhat broader at the bottom, lessens by degrees, like an Awl: So that when it comes to the Navel, it vanishes quite away, ha∣ving no Cavity all the while; but only as I conjecture, appointed to bind the Bladder to the Peritonaeum, and to su∣stain it, lest when distended with Urine, it should compress the neck of it at the subjected Parts. So Pareus writes that he could find no passage of the Ura∣chus in Man by all the Art he could use. Thus also Needham reports that he could not find the least footstep of an Urachus in the Navel-string of a Man; much less any Cavity of it. But Reason teaches us that the Use of this Ligament is the less necessary, see∣ing that the Bladder is so closely joyn'd to the Region of the Share, that it needs no other Ligament, and there∣fore that this part is design'd for some more noble Use, of which Avicen, and Fabricius ab Aquapendente better per∣ceiv'd, who say that the Urachus does not terminate in the Navel, but pass through it, and go out of it, and pro∣ceeds farther together with the Umbilical Vein and Artery, and that is to the Mem∣branes enfolding the Birth, and that in Brutes it opens into the Alantois, and con∣veys the Urine out of the bladder of the Birth, and by consequence in Man it o∣pens

between the Chorion and the Urina∣ry Membrane.

XXIII. But the Reason why it is* 1.1017 not conspicuous without the Abdomen is this, for that perhaps either no Body was sufficiently diligent in the farther search of its Progress: Or else that because of the extream thin∣ness and transparency of its Sub∣stance it is not visible; which is the reason also that the Chyliferous and Lymphatic Vessels, when they are emp∣tyed are hardly to be seen by any bo∣dy, and therefore by the most skil∣ful Anatomists hitherto overlook'd, whereas when they are full they are at this day easy to be found. Add to this that in Human Bodies when dead, so thin and slender a Vessel, tho∣rough which the serous Humour only passes, which never stays in it, may easily grow lank and flagg, and so by reason of its Transparency be hardly discernable from its neighbouring Parts.

XXIV. Lately, when I was more* 1.1018 diligently examining the Navel of an Abortive Birth, of about seven Months gon or more, I observ'd a Vein and two umbilical Arteries not twisted one within another, but that a certain thick whitish Gelly, moderately con∣dens'd, was contain'd in the Pipe of the Navel String, carried thither, no question, through the milkie Um∣bilical Vessels, passing the Placenta out of the milkie Caverns of the Womb; and that the said Vessels as it were plac'd in a Triangle, pass'd directly through the Placenta, and was as it were supported by the Gel∣ly it self. I saw no other Vessels con∣spicuous in the said Pipe of the Navel∣string; but when I cut the Navel-string athwart, I observ'd in the middle of that Triangle, a little drop of Serous Liquor spurt out, and the String being a little more hardly squeez'd from the Birth outward, six or seven little drops follow'd: And these, as I perswaded my self, came out of the Urachus invi∣sibly crossing the white Gelly, together with the other Vessels.

XXV. Now that the Urine flows* 1.1019 from the Birth through the Urachus, the Examples of many grown to ripe Years sufficiently inform us, the Pas∣sage of whose Urine being stopp'd through the ordinary Channel, it eva∣cuated through the Navel, being as it were unlock'd again. Of which there are very remarkable Stories to be found in Fernelius, Laurentius, Cabro∣lius, Hildan, Highmore, and many o∣thers. If this happens in People that are of ripe Years, whose Urachus is dry'd up into a Ligament, how much rather may it be ascertain'd that the same thing happens in the Birth, in which this Vessel is more open, nor any way dry'd up. Moreover in an Embryo mis∣carried in the fifth, sixth, or seventh Month, the Bladder is always found swelling, and almost full of Urine, out of which, if the Urine were not emp∣tied the next following Month through the Urachus, the Bladder would of ne∣cessity burst in a short time. For eve∣ry day more or less of the Serum is se∣parated in the Kidneys from the Blood, and conveighed to the Bladder, and as the Birth increases, so much the more Serum is separated of necessity.

XXVI. They who have not well* 1.1020 considered these things, have sub∣scribed to an ancient Opinion, which they endeavoured to defend with ma∣ny Reasons. Among the rest Bar∣tholinus writes, that in the Dissecti∣on of a very young Birth he could not find the Urachus to be pervi∣ous, nor could he thrust in a Probe, which was a sufficient Demonstration that the Urachus was not pervious. But whoever has observ'd the Narrow∣ness of the Urachus in Men, will never wonder that a common Probe cannot be thrust into such a streight Vessel: And so much the rather, because at its exit out of the Bladder, it passes among the Membranes with a winding Chan∣nel. So that if any one could thrust in a sharper and smaller Probe, yet it would never pass directly along, but break out at the Sides of the thin Vessel. Besides Bartholin, Harvey also asserts that he never saw the Urachus pierc'd or con∣taining any Urine in it. So likewise An∣thony Everard observes that neither in Coneys, Doggs, or Hares, he ever saw the Urachus pierced, but always solid and impassable, and doing the Office of a suspensory Ligament. Upon which Regius relying, believes also the Ura∣chus not to be perforable. But these Mistakes are all refuted by what has been said before.* 1.1021

XXVII. Claudius Courveus obser∣ving

that of Necessity part of the Se∣rum must be separated from the Blood which is made in the Embryo, and that it does not flow through the Ge∣nitals into the milkie Iuice contain∣ed in the Amnion, with which the Birth is nourished, and believing with the rest that the Urachus was not perforable, he endeavours to prove that the Embryo, all the time that it is enclosed in the Womb, discharges no Urine out of the Bladder, but that the Bladder collects all the Urine, and is able to contain it till the Delivery. But how much Courveus was mistaken, this one thing informs us that in Mis∣carriages of four or five Months, the Bladder is then found swollen with Se∣rum, and always very full; which if it be so full in these first Months, in which by reason of the smallness and tender∣ness of the bowels there is less blood made, and consequently less Serum se∣parated, what shall become of that Se∣rum which is separated in the last Months when the bowels are stronger, and the Serum is separated in greater Quantity? Shall it be stuft into the bladder fill'd in the first Months? Sure∣ly the bladder must of necessity burst, before the Birth be come to be six Months in being. Beside the Infant being born, very often makes water, which is a Sign that the Serum flows in great abundance to the bladder, and hence also that of necessity it was eva∣cuated out of the bladder through the Urachus while it was detained in the womb, by reason of the Passage of the Genitals not being then open. This al∣so is demonstrated by the Effusion of the Serous Filth preceding the Birth, which is nothing else but this same U∣rine collected between the Chorion and the Urinous Membrane, which flows out upon the breaking of those Membranes by the kicking of the Birth.

XXVIII. Alexander Maurocor∣datus* 1.1022 proposes quite another way for the Evacuation of the Serum, which abounds in the Birth. For he writes that it is not transmitted through the Urachus, which he asserts to be hi∣therto so falsly call'd, but through the Continuation of the Umbilical Vessels and the Womb, to be evacuated tho∣rough proper Places. But this Fig∣ment is grounded upon a salse Hypothe∣sis, that is, the Continuation of the Um∣bilical Veins and Arteries, and the womb; which we have refuted a little before. Moreover if there be no use, as he pre∣supposes, of the Urachus, through what Passages, I would fain know, shall the Urine come from the Bladder of the Birth to the Veins of the Mother? Shall it return out of the bladder through the Arteries to the Reins; and from thence shall it return through the Emulgent Veins, to the Vena Cava, and Liver, and so with a contrary Stream through the umbilical Vein fly back to the Mo∣ther?

XXIX. For the Security of the* 1.1023 Umbilical Veins there is a Covering wrapt about 'em, which is call'd the little Gut, or the little Rope, or Pipe of the Navel-String; and many times the whole Production of the Navel-String together with its Vessels, is understood by the Words Intestinu∣lum, or Funiculus. This is a Mem∣branous hollow round part, of an indif∣ferent thickness, consisting of a double Tunicle (of which the innermost is thought to proceed from the Peritone∣um, the outermost from the fleshy Pan∣nicle) as well comprehending as cloath∣ing the umbilical Vessels (In which Ves∣sels, by reason of the blood contain'd, there are several Spots conspicuous with∣out side of the Tunicle, from the Vein broader and darker, from the Arteries red or black and blue) with which it is twisted like a Rope: Tho' this Con∣torsion be in some greater, in others lesser; and sometimes we have seen the whole Navel-String contorted or twist∣ed, the Vessels ascending directly tho∣rough the Gelly contain'd in its Hollow∣ness. In the hollowness of this Part there is a certain whitish Humour drawn from the little Caverns of the Womb through some little milky Vessels, and pour'd forth into this Cavity between the Umbilical Vessels, and is found dif∣fused round about 'em, and ready to descend from thence farther into the Amnion.

XXX. It is thought to enjoy some* 1.1024 very few Nerves like the Chorion and Amnios, for it is not altogether void of Feeling.

XXXI. It has in several Places* 1.1025 little Knots, like little Bladders full of whitish Iuice, which Riolanus thinks to be generated from a Portion of the fleshy Covering, in that part thicker for the stronger binding to∣gether

of the Umbilical Vessels, by which means Nature took care, lest the Blood should flow to the Birth with too great Violence, and over∣whelm the tender Body. But Whar∣ton more judiciously observes, that those little Knots, are little Teats, through which the milkie Iuice flow∣ing into the Hollow of the Navel-String, distills into the Concavity of the Amnion. Others believe 'em to be Dilatations or Burstings of the Arte∣ries, but contrary to all Reason, when Dilatations of the Arteries are caused by some certain Violence, but these little Knots are generated of themselves; see∣ing also that in that part there can hard∣ly be so much Violence offered to the Arteries, by which they should be di∣lated into Burstings. Moreover seeing those Dilatations, call'd Aneurismata, are Diseases of deprav'd Conformation, therefore they would not be in the Na∣vel-String of all Births; whereas those Knots are in all Births, in some more, in some less, and are not preternatural Tumors, nor so loose as those Dilatati∣ons. Add to this, that they do not, like these, vanish or flagg, upon the Effusi∣on of the Blood, nor are they like them, sometimes greater, sometimes less, but always of an equal bigness; and by the conspicuous Spots, are equally distin∣guished from the Membrane of the Na∣vel-String, whereas those Dilatations are not to be discern'd from the rest of the Skin by any variety of the Colour. Some, but without any Ground, think those Knots to be raised by the Contorsion of the Umbilical Arteries. And Nicolas Hoboken, believes that these Knots may be observed not only in the Covering, but also in the Vessels included therein. And hence he asserts three sorts of Knots, some in the String, others in the Umbilical Vein, and others of the Ar∣teries themselves. The Knots of the Rope or Tunicle, he takes to be the Protuberances of the Membrane it self, caused by the Twistings of the Veins and Arteries. That the Knots of the Ar∣teries are round or orbicular, but the Knots of the Vein, sideways only. And he calls the Inequalities of the Largeness of the blood-bearing Vessels Knots. But commonly when we talk of the Nodes of the Funi•…•…le, we mean only those which are conspicuous without in the Intestine, and presently obvious to the Sight.

XXXII. From the Plenty of these* 1.1026 Knots, the superstitious Midwives are wont to foretel what number of Chil∣dren the married Couple shall have; and if there be very few Knots, then forsooth they pronounce Barrenness for the future. By their Distance one from another they judg of the Intervals between Child and Child, and by the variety of the Colour, of the Difference of the Sex, and foretel many things as to the Prosperity or ill Fortune of the In∣fant. Which is not only familiar a∣mong our modern Midwifes, but seems to have been formerly practised by Phy∣sicians themselves; for that Eucharius, Rhodion, and Avicen, make mention of these kind of Knots.

XXXIII. The Navel, when the In∣fant* 1.1027 is born, is ty'd with a strong Thread near the Abdomen, and a∣bout two or three Fingers breadths from the Ligature is cut off and so left, till what remains beyond the Li∣gature, being dry'd up or putrified, falls off of it self, and the Exit out of the Abdomen be closed up with a strong Skin drawn over it. From that time forward those Umbilical Vessels within the Abdomen of the Infant, de∣generate into Ligaments, tying those Parts from whence they proceed to the Navel.

XXXIV. But as to the cutting of* 1.1028 the Navel-string aforesaid, Aristotle warns us that there is great Care to be taken, which consists in leaving a just Length. For the Navel-string being drawn too far out, and so ty'd ex∣actly near the Skin, and then cut off, many believe to be the cause in a Male Child of shortning the Yard; and in a Female, of difficult Labours when she comes to bring forth. But if too long a part of the Navel String be left, that the Caul will easily afterwards slip down into it, and so cause the Umbilical Burstenness. The Truth of the latter we have found by Experience; but as to the former, we cannot affirm any thing of Certainty.

XXXV. Now seeing that the use of* 1.1029 the Navel is to conveigh the Arteri∣ous Blood through the Arteries from the Birth to the Uterine Liver, and the same after Preparation, together with the Maternal Blood flowing thi∣ther, again to carry through the Vein to the Birth.

XXXVI. Hence it was a thing* 1.1030 decreed among Philosophers and Physicians▪ that the Birth in the Womb was not nourished by any other Nourishment than the Blood brought through the Navel. Which Opinion seems to be confirm'd by the Autho∣rity of Hippocrates, who seems to be of the same Opinion. Others altogether reject this ancient Opinion, and in∣form, that the Birth in the Womb is not nourish'd by the Navel, but through the Mouth; and confirm their Opinion also by the Authority of Hippocrates who l. de princip. & de nat. puer. plainly writes, that the Birth in the Womb is nourish'd through the Mouth; And these believe that the Uterine Liver only prepares after a Specifick manner, that same Blood which forced thither through the Umbilical Arteries from the Birth it self, and so remits it through the Vein to the Birth, but that no Blood comes to the Navel Vein through the Womb.

XXXVII. But to decide this Que∣stion* 1.1031 so long controverted, my Iudg∣ment is, that these two Opinions are to be joyn'd together, and that we are to assert, that the Birth is nourish'd partly by Apposition, and by the Mouth, partly by the Navel.

XXXVIII. At the beginning be∣fore* 1.1032 the perfect Formation of the Um∣bilical Vessels and the Uterine Liver, the parts delineated are increased and augmented first by Apposition out of the remaining Seminal Matter, now dis∣solv'd into a Colliquamen, upon which the little Embryo swims; in the same manner as Plants, when they first begin to germinate from the Seed, take their nourishment and growth from the remaining part of the Seed; as we see in Onions hung up in the Air, which send forth their Leaves upward, and cast forth their Roots downward; and the same thing we find to be done in Pease and Beans, germinating without the Earth in a moist Air: For this matter is already prepared for the nourishment of the Birth, neither has it need of any far∣ther concoction, as being most natural to the tender parts already delineated, Thus first of all the Birth is nourish'd by the Apposition alone of the Seminal Dissolution, after that, partly by Appo∣sition, and partly by some part of the Se∣minal Dissolution taken in at the Mouth, and first chang'd into Blood in and from the Heart.

XXXIX. But afterwards, the Bow∣els* 1.1033 being somewhat corroborated, and the Seminal Dissolution being for the most part consum'd, and the Uterine Liver being come to greater perfection, the Navel with it▪ Vessels being exten∣ded to it, and thence the milkie Iuice now largely flowing into the Amnion, the Birth is nourish'd by the Mouth and Navel.

The three ways of the nourishment of the Birth, are prov'd by most solid Reasons.

XL. Nutrition by Apposition which* 1.1034 is the first of all, appears from the swift Increase of the parts, whereas as yet the Bowels are so tender and weak, that they cannot contribute so much Blood to so swift a Nourishment.

XLI. Nourishment at the Mouth* 1.1035 is proved by six Reasons.

• 1. Because the Stomach of the Birth is never empty; but full of a Milkie whitish Liquor, and a Juice like to it is always contain'd in the Mouth of it; as is to be seen in Brutes. The same thing happens also in a Chicken while it sticks in the Egg, in the Mouth and Craw of which there is a certain matter like coa∣gulated Milk; that is, from the white of the Egg taken in at the Mouth.
• 2. Because there are Excrements con∣tain'd in the Gutts, which the Infant born evacuates at the Fundament. Which without doubt are the remainders of some nourishment taken in at the Mouth; whereas such Excrements could not a∣bound in the Guts from Blood alone; which some nevertheless have maintain'd contrary to reason, who are refuted by Riolanus.
• 3. Because the Stomach presently af∣ter delivery, could not so soon go about its Office of Concoction, had it not bin at all accustomed to it in the Womb.
• 4. Because the Birth could not under∣go so great a change without a manifest prejudice, as that having bin nourish'd in the Womb for so many months with Umbilical Blood alone, so soon as born, it should immediately, and as it were at a jump, be nourish'd by Milk taken in at the Mouth, and swallowed down into the Stomach.
• 5. Because an Infant is no sooner born, but it understands to suck the Nipples, which it could never do, had it not bin

• accustomed in the Womb to take in something at the Mouth, either by suck∣ing or chewing.
• 6. For that not a few new-born In∣fants puke up a Milkie nourishment, be∣fore they have suckt the nipple, or taken in any thing at the Mouth forth of the Womb; which could not be in their Stomachs, unless they had taken it in at the Mouth of the Womb. A mani∣fest* 1.1036 Example of this I saw in my youn∣gest Daughter Ioane, who an hour after she was born, puk'd up a great quantity of white Milk, to the Admiration of all the Women that were present; in regard the Infant had not then either suck'd the Nipple, or taken in any thing at the Mouth.

XLII. Harvey de gener. proves* 1.1037 this Nourishment by a strong Argu∣ment taken from sucking. The Birth, says he, so soon as, nay before, it is born, sucks, as if it had done it for sometime in the Womb. Having try'd it as yet sticking in the Birth before it could either cry or breath, it has ta∣ken hold of, and suckt the finger put to the Mouth of it.

XLIII. This Nourishment is also* 1.1038 confirm'd by the Authority of Hippo∣crates. lib. de Carn. where he shews it to be done, by Arguments drawn from the Dung, which Infants evacu∣ate as soon as born, and the first ta∣king of the Nipple.

XLIV. If any one should ask with* 1.1039 what sort of Nourishment it was nou∣rish'd at the Mouth: We have said e∣nough already as to that point; that is to say, first of all with the dissolved Seminal Liquor, afterwards with the milkie Iuice contained in the Cavity of the Amnion. This milkie Juice Harvey found in the Stomach of an A∣bortion: And Olaus Rudbeck has this Observation concerning this matter. Ha∣ving dissected, saies he, all the Kittens of one Cat, we found in the Mouth, Sto∣mach and Gullets of every one a Muci∣lage and Viscousness like to that which was within the Body and the Amnion.

XLV. Now this same Iuice is by* 1.1040 degrees taken in at the Mouth by the Infant and swallowed, not forced in∣to it; for by that means such a quan∣tity would flow into the Mouth of it, that the Stomach would in a short time be distended, and prejudice the In∣fant. Not that there is any reason to fear with Hennigius Arniseus, lest the Birth should be choak'd by the copious Liquor wherein it swims, should it o∣pen its Mouth; for in regard that it does not breath in the Womb, it draws no∣thing within the Lungs; and if it should breath, it would be as soon stifled, with the Mouth shut as open.

XLVI. Here Nicholas Hoboken* 1.1041 puts the Question, whether the Birth takes in that first Nourishment, by suck∣ing or only by swallowing, without any foregoing or joynt Act of sucking. But this is a doubt of no such great Moment to require a laborious Solution. For when any liquid thing is taken in at the Mouth to be swallowed, after the com∣mon manner of speaking, it is said to be taken in by sucking or supping, whereas many times it is done neither way, only it is pour'd into the Mouth, and so swal∣lowed. And so there is no question, but that the Alimentary Liquor slips into the Mouth of the Birth; In the mean time it is likewise as probable, that the time of delivery approaching, the same thing is done as it were by sipping, and so swallowing; whence it comes to pass, that the Birth being accustomed to that kind of sipping, as soon as it is born, striving to sip, easily learns the way, and manner of sucking. Which was Harvey's Opinion, de gen. Animal. If the Embryo, says he, swimming in the said Liquor, opens its Mouth, of necessi∣ty the water must enter its Iaws, and if it move other Muscles (which is known by its motion in the Womb, which may be felt without by the hand) what if we should think it to be the same use of the Or∣gans of the Iaws to sup up that Liquor? But that he may the better describe the same manner or Action of supping, and that it does not touch the Liquor, by drawing it toward the inner parts of the Mouth, he adds the manner how the new-born Infant begins the Action of sucking. Neither, says he, does the Infant suck, by compressing the Nipple with its Lips, as we by supping, but as if he would swallow it, he draws it all into his Chaps, and by the help of his Tongue and Pallate, as it were by chewing, fetches out the Milk. For while he endeavours as it were to chew, he sucks in the same man∣ner as he did in the Womb. And this is that manner of sucking which Hippo∣crates means, when he writes, that the Birth sucks in the Womb.

Riolanus unwarily denies, that the whi∣tish Liquour contained in the Stomach

of the Birth, is the Chylous Juice, but says, it is an Excrement of the third Con∣coction of the Stomach: or a flegm that falls from the Head; neither of which it can be said to be. And therefore Clau∣dius de la Courve, well refutes him in these words, Lib. de Nutrit. Foet. If in the third Month, as he observes, this Nou∣rishment whatever it be, be generated in a certain Quantity, in how great abun∣dance shall it be generated in the sixth, seventh, and ninth Month? But how much, if that Mucous humour contained in the Stomach be the Excrement of all the Bellies? So much, as neither the Stomach of the Child, nor the Intestines would be able to contain.

XLVII. The Nutrition of the Birth by the Umbilical Blood, these three Arguments chiefly prove.

• 1. The Insertions of the Umbilical* 1.1042 Vessels into the Placenta annexed to the Womb; into which out of the Body of the Womb, the Maternal Blood flows through the open'd Orifices of the Ves∣sels; and is therein prepared, and so con∣veighed through the Vein to the Birth.
• 2. The great quantity of Blood as∣cending through the Umbilical Vein to the Birth; within a living Animal, by tying the Navel string with a thread, and pricking the Vein between the Liga∣ture and the Placenta, is presently seen: Whereas but very little can be forced through the small Umbilical Arteries, from the Birth toward the Placenta, for that four times as much is drawn out of the Placenta through the Vein, as is carry'd through the Umbilical Arte∣ries.
• 3. Necessity: For the Birth encreasing wants much Nourishment; but its ten∣der and weak Bowels can concoct and prepare but Little; hence it requires some purer and already concocted Nou∣rishment, by which it may be speedily nourished, and by its admixture the Nourishment taken in at the Mouth, may be chang'd into Blood. More∣over in an Embryo the Chylus taken in at the Mouth, ought not to come alone to the Heart, but mixt with the Ve∣nal Blood, as in Men born it is carryed to the Subclavial Veins, and in them and the Vena Cava is mixt with the Ve∣nal Blood, endued with a fermentaceous Quality, and so comes to the Heart.

XLVIII. This Nutrition seems to be* 1.1043 carryed on in the same manner in a Chicken, whose bill adheres to the White; but its Navel string or its Ves∣sels enter principally the Yolk; which is instead of the Mothers Blood prepa∣red in the Uterine Liver.

But the more the Pullet increases, so much the more the inner white abates, truly supplying the place of the Female Seed, which the Chicken consumes by little and little with its bill lying in it. Now that being for the most part consumed, the outward white is also consumed, sup∣plying the place of the Milkie Liquor. And then also the Yolk is manifestly wasted, as being that into which the Um∣bilical Vessels are inserted; the Vein of which is a Branch of the Porta. Which is an apparent sign, that the chicken at the beginning tender, and requiring less Nourishment, is nourished at first with the inner White only by appositi∣on, then by the Mouth. Afterwards when it wants more copious Nourish∣ment, then it is also nourish'd with the Exterior White at the Mouth, and also with the Juice of the Yolk by the Navel. And the like procedure and order of Nourishment, happens in Hu∣man Birth; which before the sufficient perfection of the Uterine Liver, and Umbilical Vessels, and while the parts are yet very tender, is nourished with the Seminal Colliquamen, remaining af∣ter the Delineation of its parts; after∣wards wanting a more copious quantity of Nourishment, the Uterine Liver now increasing, the Umbilical Vessels being perfected, and the Milkie Vessels exten∣ded to the pipe of the Navel-string, and the Amnion, it is Nourished with the milkie Juice at the Mouth, and with Blood by the Navel, and so at that time enjoys a double nourishment, out of which being mixt together, perfect Blood is made in the Heart. For at the first the Seminal Dissolution sufficiently nourishes the Embryo, as being most analogous to it, and nearest to its Ori∣ginal, and already prepared, and want∣ing little Concoction. But afterwards, when the Dissolution being consumed, the Birth comes to be nourish'd with the milkie Juice, which is less Analogous to it, and therefore has need of some Con∣coction in the Stomach and Heart, then of necessity, some other former Juice must be mixed with that Juice in the Bo∣dy of the Birth, endued with a certain fermentaceous Quality, which when it cannot be performed by the overweak Liver of the Birth it self, of necessity it must be drawn through the Navel from the Uterine Liver. This Nourishment proceeds in like manner in Plants. For Examples sake, throw a Branch of a Willow into a Pond, first it is nourish'd

with only Viscous water, in the mean time besides Leaves it casts forth Roots from it self to a certain length, so that at last they reach the Earth, and insi∣nuate themselves into it; and so from thence receive a firmer Alimentary Nourishment, which causes the Wil∣low to shoot out in bulk. Thus also the Embryo is for some time nourished with a Seminal Colliquamen, and a more se∣rous milkie Iuice taken in at the Mouth, in the mean time the Roots of the Um∣bilical Vessels from its Navel-string, put themselves forth till at length they ex∣tend themselves into the Placenta, as it were into the Earth, and so from thence receive a firmer Alimentary Juice, prepar'd therein, and conveigh it to the Birth, for its swifter and larger Growth.

These things thus said enjoyn Silence to Riolanus, who concludes that the Birth is Nourish'd only by the Navel. But, says he, the Birth being every way surrounded with Waters, if it should take its Nourishment in at the Mouth, it could not be but that it must swallow its own Urine again together with its Nourishment. These more modern Authors have observed, that neither the Mouth nor Nostrils are open in an Embryo four Months gone. For which reason we acknowledge no other way of Nourishing the Birth, but by the Um∣bilical Vein, that conveighs Blood to the Liver.

XLIX. But Riolanus together with* 1.1044 the Ancients was deceived in that, be∣cause he minded not the Difference of Substance and Place; between the milkie Iuice inclosed in the Amnion, and the Urine without the Amnion, contained between the Urinary Mem∣brane, and the Chorion. As also for that without any farther Inquisition, he admitted a false Proposition, groun∣ded only upon the Opinion and Relati∣on of others, as most true, that the Month of the Birth continu'd shut till the four Months end.

What has been said, may suffice to convince Claudius Courveus also, who by many reasons endeavours to main∣tain, that the Birth is by no means Nourish'd with the Umbilical Blood, but only with the Liquor of the Amnion, whose vain labour in the Proof, any one may see that reads his Book.

L. But before we leave the History* 1.1045 of the Navel-string, there is one thing to be inquired into that concerns Phy∣sical Practice, that is to say, seeing that Ascitic Dropsies are frequently cured (according to the Directions of Hippocrates and other Ancient Phy∣sicians, and the consent of Experience) by tapping which is usually done a little below the Navel, somewhat toward the Right or left side, the Question is, whe∣ther that tapping may not be more safely begun in the Navel it self, to the end the Serum included within it may flow out. Andrew Laurentius, with whom Bau∣hinus consents, maintains the affirmative with so much heat, that he prefers the opening of the Navel far before the other way of Tapping, and affirms that the included Serum may be easily evacuated through the Umbilical Veins. This Opinion of his he confirms with four Stories of Ascitic Patients, of which three were perfectly cur'd by the break∣ing of the Navel of its own accord, the fourth by the Artificial opening of it. Then he adds not only the manner of the Operation, but also divers reasons to uphold it; of which the first is this, Where Nature tends, there we must follow her, but many times she attempts that Evacuation of her own accord through the Navel, therefore, &c. But Laurentius mi∣stakes in speaking so generally of this Section of the Navel, as if it were con∣venient in every Ascitis: For we are in∣deed to follow where Nature tends; if she seeks passages that are Natural: But seeing that in an Ascitis, Nature seldom tends to the Navel, which swells in very few that are troubl'd with that distemper, therefore that Opera∣tion is not convenient generally in all, but only in some few. For in others whose Navel does not swell of its own accord, that Section would be not only unprofitable, but also prejudicial, since it would be dangerous to cut the Consoli∣dated Navel, where Nature intends no Evacation of the serous Humours that way, whence painful Convulsions must be expected, and a Gangrene greatly to be feared, especially in a Body Ascitic and full of ill Humours. Moreover if the Navel did not swell before of it self, being opened by Art, there will nothing of the Serum flow out that way from the Cavity of the Belly; because Na∣ture does not tend that way, and there∣fore such a section would be unprofitably, dangerously, and unadvisedly underta∣ken;

Lastly Laurentius judges errone∣ously that the Serum which flows out of a swollen Navel being open'd, flows out of the Umbilical Vessels; Seeing that the Serum contained in the Cavity of the Ab∣domen, cannot enter the Piss-bladder by any Passages, and to ascend through that and the Urachus to the Navel; nor can it enter the Heart, and so be forced through the Iliac and Umbilical Arte∣ries: nor can it enter the Liver it self, and be conveighed thither from thence through the Umbilical Vein, by reason of several little Valves that stop the as∣cent of all manner of liquor from the Li∣ver toward the Navel: Nor can it enter the Milky Umbilical Vessels, altogether dryed up, soon after the Birth. There∣fore that Evacuation cannot be made through any Umbilical Vessels, but from the Cavity it self of the Abdomen; out of which, in some Ascitics, the Serum collected in great Quantity, through the pressure of the Muscles of the Ab∣domen, sometimes insinuates it self into the Navel, taking the same way through which the Umbilical Vessels pass thither, by which means the Skin being loosned in the Navel, there happens a watery humour, which being opened, the wa∣tery Serum flows out, yet not without danger to the Patient, seeing that as Hippocrates witnesses, such a suddain Evacuation is very dangerous, and it is a hard matter for the Physicians to stop it in such a Case. Laurentius orders the Navel to be ty'd, or else to clap a Sil∣ver pipe to the hole of the Section; by which means the rapid Colours of the Serum may be stopped, and let out at the pleasure of the Surgeon. But this advice savours of unskilful Theory; Seeing that not only Reason but Experi∣ence teach us, how difficult a thing it is to tye the Navel, when grown flatted upon the flowing out of the Serum; or to thrust in a Silver Pipe, and keep it there; for if it be done with a Swath brought a∣bout the Loyns, it puts the Patient to more pain; if by a Ligature about the Pipe, then the part ty'd will suddainly dye and corrupt, and the Ligature will be unloosed.

CHAP. XXXIII. In what parts the Birth in the Womb differs from a Man grown.

I. THis Difference consists in the* 1.1046 diversity of Biggness, Figure, Situation, Number, Use, Colour, Ca∣vity, Hardness, Motion, Excre∣ments and Strength of the Parts.

This Variety is conspicuous either in the whole Body, or in the Ventricles, or in the Joynts.

II. For the whole Body is considera∣ble.* 1.1047

• 1. The small Bulk of all the Parts,
• 2. The ruddy Colour of the whole,
• 3. The softness of the Bones,

of which many are as yet Cartilaginous and Flex∣ible, so much the more, by how much the Birth is distant from Maturity.

III. In the Head there is a great Va∣riety* 1.1048 of Difference.

• 1. The Head, in proportion to the rest of the Body, is large, and the Figure of the Face nothing so well ordered.
• 2. The Bones of the Scull are softer, and the top of the Head is not covered with a Bone, but are spread over with a Membrane.
• 3. The Bone of the Forehead is divided, as also of the lower Jaw, and the Wedge-fashioned Bone, is quadripar∣tite.
• 4. The Bone of the Hinder part of the Head is divided into three, four, or five Bones.
• 5. The Brain is softer and more sluid, and the softness of the Nerves is extraor∣dinary.
• 6. The little Bones of the Hearing, are extreamly hard and large.
• 7. The Teeth lye hid within their Little Holes.

IV. In the Breast there is no less dif∣ference* 1.1049 to be observed.

• 1. The Breasts swell out, and a serous kind of Milk flows from the Breasts of Newborn Infants, as well Male as Fe∣male, sometimes of its own accord, and sometimes being squeez'd though very gently. But no little Glandules appear conspicuous, only there is to be seen some sign of a little Teat.
• 2. The Vertebres want the Spiny Pro∣cesses, and are formed out of three di∣stinct little Bones, the mutual Con∣course▪ of which forms a hole, which

• admits the descending Spinal Marrow.
• 3. The Heart is more conspicuous in biggness, and furnished with larger lit∣tle Ears.
• 4. There are two Unions of the Big∣ger Vessels, not conspicuous in grown People, viz. an Oval Hole through which there is a passage open out of the Vena cava into the Pulmonary Vein, for∣tified with a Valve by a part of this Vein, and a Channel extended from the Pul∣monary Artery into the Aorta.
• 5. The Glandule under the Channel∣bone adhering to the Vessels, appears of an extraordinary Bigness, and as it were with a threefold Little Glan∣dule.
• 6. The Lungs are ruddy, thick and bloody, and heavier than usually, so that being thrown into water, they pre∣sently sink.

V. The difference in the lower* 1.1050 Belly, consists in these things.

• 1. The Stomach is more contracted; though not empty, but full of a Milky Liquor.
• 2. The Umbilical Vessels go forth of the Abdomen.
• 3. The Cawle, hardly conspicuous looks like a Spiders Webb.
• 4. The Intestines equal or exceed the length of the little Body seven times.
• 5. In the Thin Guts are contained flegmatick and yellow Excrements; in the Thick Guts, hard and blackish; and sometimes Greenish.
• 6. The huge Bulk of the Liver not on∣ly fills the right Hypochondrium, but ex∣tends it self to the left side, and so covers all the Upper part of the Ventricle.
• 7. The Spleen is very small.
• 8. The Gall Bladder swells with the yellow or green Choler.
• 9. The Sweet-Bread shews it self re∣markably large and white.
• 10. The Kidneys are vaster in Bulk, and seem to be composed of a Cluster of many Kernels.
• 11. The Suppositious Kidneys are also very large, nor do they lye night the Kidneys, as in grown People, but rest upon the Kidneys, and encompass the upper part of them, as it were with a large bosom.
• 12. The Ureters are wide, and the Bladder distended with a great quantity of Urine.
• 13. In Females, the Womb is depressed, the Tubes longer, and the Stones con∣spicuous for their largeness.

VI. In the Ioynts there are these* 1.1051 differences to be observed.

• 1. In the tenderness and softness of the Bones.
• 2. Because the Little Bones of the Wrist and the Back of the Foot are grist∣ly, and not firmly joyned.

CHAP XXXIV. Of the Situation of the Birth in the Womb.

WHen I take out a mature Birth out of a dead Mother, I can∣not but admire how so large a Body should be contained within so small a Prison, and move it self, which being once drawn forth, no Art of Man can thrust in again. Now therefore let us observe how the Birth is contained in the Womb.

I. The Situation of the Birth is not* 1.1052 always alike, but many times found to be various, which proceeds partly from the Birth it self, partly from the time that the Woman has gone, and her growing near the Time of her Delivery.

The Head is contained in the upper part of the Womb, with the Arms and Thighs contracted together, the Knees nearest the Elbows, the Hands in some plac'd upon the Knees, in some upon the Breast; in others folded together; the Feet are turn'd back inward, so that they touch the Buttocks with the Soles, rare∣ly with the Heels. Whence it comes to pass, that the Legs of Newborn Infants are bow'd inward, and their Feet in the same manner, which fault is easily af∣terwards amended by swathing, by rea∣son of the softness of the parts. Some∣times the Birth lies toward the side, and assumes to it self an overth wart Situation, which is easily perceived by the Woman laying her hand upon her Belly, as al∣so by the swelling out of the side, and the weight falling that way.

II. Sometimes, one, two, or three* 1.1053 weeks before Delivery, the Birth turns it self with the Head downward, and lyes much more toward the Lower, pre∣paring for its Exit; which tumble is performed in a short time, though not without some trouble to the Mother, who takes that alteration for a certain Sign of her approaching Labour.

III. About the time of Delivery the* 1.1054 Birth changes its Situation several ways; while by kicking and moving

it self to and fro, it seeks to come forth. Hence I believe it is that several excellent Anatomists, who perhaps have viewed such kinds of Births in Women at such times Deceasing, do not agree in the Manner of the Situation of the Womb in the Birth; while some describe the Arms, others the Thighs, or other parts after this or that manner situated in this or that place.

IV. Fernelius asserts that there is* 1.1055 a different Situation of Males and Females; affirming that Males lye with their faces toward the Abdomen or inner parts, and Females quite the contrary; and that hence it is, that the Bodies of drowned Women swim with their Bellies downward in the Water, and Men upon their Backs. Which Opinion Riolanns derides as ridiculous, and without reason.

Charles Stephens reports, that Twins observe a contrary Situation; and that one looks toward the forepart, the other toward the hinder part. But this Rule is uncertain, as is apparent from hence; for that sometimes Twins have bin born with their Abdomens, Breasts, or Fore∣heads growing together, which could ne∣ver happen if they lay back to back.

CHAP. XXXV. Of the Delivery.

I. THe Birth being conceived in* 1.1056 the Womb, abides within that dark Domicil, till it comes to Matu∣rity; that is, till it has acquir'd strength anough, so soon as it is set at Liberty, to endure the Violence of the Air and the Alteration of Nou∣rishment. But how long it is, before it acquire that Maturity, and how long it is before it ought to come into the World, is disputed among the Learned. That there is a certain time prescribed by Nature to all other Ani∣mals is vulgarly known; so that the Contest is only concerning Man.

Hippocrates and Aristotle seem to as∣cribe no certain time to the Birth of Man; for they affirm that a Woman may bring forth from the Seventh to the Eleventh; with whom agrees the great∣est part of the Crowd of Physicians. But most commonly Human Births are detained in the Womb nine whole Months together, before they come to their just Maturity; which Maturity nevertheless may sometimes happen in seven Months: So that within both those times Women may be delivered of Sound and Mature Children. Such as are born before the seventh Month, are not ripe, neither can they be preserved alive; be∣cause they cannot brook the violence of the Air, nor Alteration of Nourishment: Wherefore, says Aristotle, The Birth that comes forth sooner than the seventh Month, is no way to be preserved alive. But because there has happen'd an Ex∣ception to this General Rule of Aristo∣tle's, I think that instead of by no means, he should have written very seldom.

II. For that some have lived that* 1.1057 have been born before the seventh Month, the Relations of Physicians testifie. Avicen reports, that he saw one born within the sixth Month, that lived well: Cardan writes that the Daughter of Peter Soranus, being born in the sixth Month grew up to Maturity. Spigelius writes, that in Zeland he knew a certain Letter-Carrier, who by the Publick Testimony of the City of Middle∣burgh, under the Certificate of the Ma∣gistracy, was born in the sixth Month, so small, so tender and weak, that he could not endure Swathing, but was wrapt up in Cotton to defend him from the Cold. We also knew a Girl that was born within the sixth Month, whose Head when she was born, was no bigger than a large Apple, and the whole Bo∣dy so small, that the Nurse could hard∣ly touch it, nor could it be Swathed according to the usual manner; which afterwards grew up to a just proportion, and is now at this time living about eigh∣teen years of Age.

III. Montuus reports that he knew* 1.1058 a Cupbearer to Henry King of France, who though he were born in the fifth Month, yet lived to a florid Age. Francis Vallesius tells us of a Girl born in the fifth Month, that he knew when she was entring into her twelfth year. In like manner Ferdinand Mena makes mention of two that were born in the fifth Month. But certainly this is to be understood of the end of the first Month. And so all these Ex∣amples quoted from Men of Credit, and confirm'd by their Testimonies, suffici∣ently demonstrate, that sometimes a Child born before its time, may be so

cherisht and hatched up by Care and Art, as to be preserved alive. But these are accidents that rarely happen, from whence no certain Conclusion can be drawn. For it's a wonder, when a Birth so immature, so tender, and so weak, happens to live any time.

IV. Hippocrates also denies that* 1.1059 they can live who are born in the eighth Month: Perhaps because he of∣ten observed it so to fall out in Greece. For which Regius gives this Reason; because that the Birth being a certain Critical Evacuation, it cannot be done safely and soundly but in a Cri∣tical Month; such as is the seventh: So that if that Crisis of the Birth happen in the eighth Month, then of necessity some powerful preternatural Cause must intervene, so much to the prejudice of the Infant, that it cannot live. But if only the Critical Months, the seventh, fourteenth, &c. are only to be account∣ed wholesom, what shall we say to a Birth of nine Months, which however is no Critical Month, and yet most fre∣quent and most wholesom? What to the Tenth Month? Certainly there is no Effervescency of the Body of the Infant, as there is of the Humours, which boyl at certain times, and break forth Cri∣tically? And therefore since there is no solid Effervescency in the solid parts of the Birth, neither is there here any bad or good season of Critical Evacuations to be observed, and thence no reason that Children born in the eighth Month, should be thought less likely to live, than those that are born in the seventh; seeing that dayly Experience teaches us, how that Children born in the eighth Month, live as well as they that are born in the seventh. For if they are born in the seventh Month, and can be ripe so soon, why not in the eighth? why shall not the latter brook the Vio∣lence of the Air, and the change of Nourishment as well as the former? ra∣ther, why not better▪ seeing they are more mature. In vain do many here al∣ledge the great toil and tumbling of the Birth in the seventh Month more than in other Months, by which he is so weak∣ened and tvr'd, that he cannot brook the Labour of Expulsion in the Eighth: for these are idle Dreams refuted by the Women themselves, who assure us that they perceive that extraordinary Moti∣on no more in the seventh, than in the sixth or eighth, As vainly others fly to the numbers of Days, Hours, and Mi∣nutes, confining the Exit of the Child to certain numbers, when the incertain∣ty of the days of delivery frequently delude those Numbers. Lastly, the A∣strologers in vain endeavour to reconcile this matter by the benigne or malign as∣pects of Saturn, as if Saturn rul'd al∣ways; or at least that there were no Children born in the eighth Month, but under his Reign; whereas such Births frequently happen under the Dominion of other Benign Planets, which seem to be secured from Saturn's Injuries by their Clemency and Benignity. Besides, Asto the Influences of the Stars, how unknown and meerly conjectural they are, not only the fallacious, uncertain, and contrary Judgments of Astrologers so frequent in their Writings demon∣strate, and of what little Prevalency and Efficacy they are, experience teaches; so that whether they have any power over things here below, is not without reason questioned by many. And hence though many, in explaining the mean∣ing of Hippocrates, Concerning the Chil∣dren born in the eighth Month, by him pronounced short-liv'd, have laboured very much, and have studyed to un∣derprop and adorn his Sentence with ma∣ny fictions and pretences of Truth, yet not only frequent and daily Observation, but the Authority and Experience both of the Ancients and Moderns overturns all they have rear'd beyond the Limits of Greece. For Galen says, they are in a very great Errour, that will not acknow∣ledge the eighth Month for a due and natural time of delivery. In like man∣ner Aristotle asserts that Children born in the eighth Month live and grow up. Nevertheless he adds that the words of Hippocrates may be interpreted in the best Sence. But many dye in several pla∣ces of Greece, so that very few are preser∣ved: So that if any one there doth live, he is not thought to be born in the eighth Month, but that the Woman has mistaken her reckoning. Pliny writes that in E∣gypt and Italy, Children born in the eighth Month do live, contrary to the Opinion of the Ancients, and that Va∣stilia was happily brought to bed of Caeso∣nia, afterwards the Wife of Caius. Among our Modern Authors, Bonaventure saw three safe that were born in the eighth Month. So it is credibly reported, that the Learned Vincent Pinelli, together with his Sister, were born Twins in the eighth Month, as was also Cardinal Sfondrati, and both his Sons. Cardan brings five Examples of great Men all born in the eighth Month, who lived; and asserts moreover, that in Egypt ge∣nerally they live that are born in the eighth Month. Which if it has befallen

so many Princes, we may easily conje∣cture that the same as frequently hap∣pen among the ordinary People, who seldom reckon so exactly. Riolanus re∣lates that in the Iland Naxus the Women are usually brought to bed in the eighth Month: and Avicen gives the same Re∣lation of the Spanish Women. We find the same to be true in Holland; and that it is so likewise in France, England, Scot∣land, and all the Northern Countries, is very probable, because we never hear of any complaint against the eighth Month in any of those places.

V. Now the reason why some are* 1.1060 born in the seventh, some in the eighth, and others in the ninth Month, is to be ascribed to the difference of Re∣gions, Seasons, Dyet, Passions of the Mind, Temperament of the Seed, Womb, and Woman her self, by means whereof the heat of the Womb increa∣ses sometimes later, and sometimes sooner; So that sometimes there is need of a swifter, sometimes a slower Ventilation. Paulus Zachias seems to* 1.1061 accuse. Hippocrates and Aristotle of a Mi∣stake for appointing so many uncertain limits for sound Delivery: and believes that there is a certain time for the De∣livery of Men as well as of Beasts; that is to say, the end of the ninth, and beginning of the tenth, and that all other Births either on this side, or on that side, are all preternatural, occasion'd by some Morbifick Cause, which is the reason of so many weak and distempered Children. Which if it were true in those that are born before the nine Month Term, then certainly the Mother or the Child would be affected with some Morbifick cause, either before or after the Birth; whereas in Children that come in the seventh Month, which frequently happens, any such bad affection rarely happens, but that the Mother and the Child equally do well, as if the Birth had bin delay'd till the end of the ninth Month; nor is the Child more sickly or weaker, than those that are born at the end of the ninth Month, which are many times as sickly and weak, as those that are born in the seventh. Now as to those that are born beyond that Term, it has been con∣troverted among several, whether any such thing happen, and whether a Wo∣man bring forth after that time. In the mean while, it is a Rule hitherto held certain, environ'd with many proba∣ble reasons, and the Authority of great Men, that some Women may be brought to bed in the eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth Month, and that the Children are duly born, by reason of the weakness of the Infant, or the Mother; the Coldness of the Womb, scarcity of Nourishment, or some such like cause, which may occasion Nature to delay the Appointed time of Birth, as many famous Philosophers have per∣swaded themselves and others: Hippo∣crates expresly asserts that Children are born in the eleventh Month. Aristotle ad∣mits the eleventh and no farther, They that lye longer than the eleventh Month, seem to lye hid; that is, that the Mother has mistaken her Reckoning. Petrus Aponensis, otherwise called the Conci∣liator, by the Report of Cardan, asserts himself to have been born in the eleventh Month; as if he had kept his Mother's reckoning in her Womb. Homer makes mention of one born in the twelfth Month. Pliny speaks of a certain Wo∣man that was brought to bed in her thirteenth Month; and Avicen of ano∣ther that was brought to bed in her four∣teenth. Of which we have another Ex∣ample in Alexander Benedict; I omit o∣ther Women that went two and twenty Months; nay some that went two, three, four whole years, of which Iohn Schenkius quotes Examples, I fear me too fictitious, out of several Authors.

VI. But indeed these are all idle* 1.1062 Stories without any grounds, and prov'd by no certain Experience, but taken up from the discourses of tatling Gossips, to whom some overcredulous Learned Men have given too much Credit, to the end they might under∣prop these Vanities with some supports of probability. For as I believe it to be most certain that the time of delivery may be for certain causes delay'd some few days beyond the Term of nine Months, so I believe it impossible that it should be put off one, much less many Months, seeing that in whatsoever Constitution of a Woman, the Increase of heat becomes so great in the Infant, that it requires Ventilation by Respirati∣on; and for that cause the Birth must seek relief without the narrow straits of the Womb. So that it is manifest those serious maintainers of that Opinion drew too hasty a Conclusion from the false Relations of silly Women. For if we narrowly prie into the Matter, there lies a Snake in the Grass; either wicked∣ness in the Woman, or simple Error in the Reckoning. Wickedness in the Wo∣man;

Who if she have no Children, upon the death of her Husband, that she may enjoy her Estate, leagues her self with another Man, and being by him got with Child, pretends to be deli∣vered, Eleven, twelve, thirteen Months after the death of her Husband, that so she may lay the Child to him in his Life∣time; which is a sort of wickedness so frequent, that the Courts are full of these Contentions: Which is the reason that these lateward Births seldom happen but among such kind of Widows, rarely among Women that live with their Husbands. There may be also a sim∣ple Error in the Reckoning, for that Women generally compute their Reck∣oning form the first suppression of their Flowers: though it may hap∣pen from other causes that their Flow∣ers may cease three or four Months before Conception. So that if a Woman begin her Reckoning from the first Sup∣pression, she must of necessity mistake, and through that Mistake the Child shall be said to be born in the eleventh or twelfth Month, that came at the ap∣pointed time of the end of the Ninth. Aristotle believes that Error may proceed from the swelling of the VVomb. Wo∣men, says he, are ignorant of the Time of their Conception, if when the Womb was swelled before, as it often happens, they afterwards lye with their Husbands and conceive, for they believe this to be the beginning of their Conception, because it gave such a Signal.

VII. Through the same Error in* 1.1063 Reckoning, Children are said to be born in the fifth or sixth Month, which nevertheless are not born till the Ninth. For that some VVomen for the first two or three Months of their being with Child: have their Flowers upon them still at the set times; but afterwards they stop; and so they begin their Recko∣ning from that Suppression wherein they greatly err, beginning their account from thence, when they are three or four Months gone: and so a Child shall be said to come in the sixth Month, that was duly born in the ninth, and this Error is apparent from the just propor∣tion of the Child, and the strength of its parts.

VIII. When a Woman draws near* 1.1064 her time, the Birth turns it self, and the Head declining, plants it self be∣fore the Privity, distending upwards the rest of the Body: Which turning happens a week or two before the delive∣ry. Then the Orifice of the VVomb, like a blowing Rose begins to open and dilate it self, and to prepare a passage for the Birth that is about to come forth; moreover the Infant kicking and spraw∣ling to and fro, breaks the Membranes wherein it is infolded, and so the hu∣mours included therein flow forth, which loosen the Privy parts, and render the Passages slippery; to make the passage easie for the Birth to pass thorough. For it rarely happens that the Child is born and comes into the VVorld with the Membranes whole and entire, which once I saw in an Infant that was ve∣ry weak.

IX. This sprawling is painful to* 1.1065 the Womb, and this pain communica∣ted to the mind in the Brain, present∣ly the Animal Spirits are sent in great Quantity through the Nerves to the pursing Fibers of the Womb, and the Muscles of the Abdomen, which be∣ing contracted together, cause a strong Expulsion of the Birth.

X. The Infant comes forth with* 1.1066 the Head formost according to Nature, says Hippocrates. Lib. de. nat. puer.

XI. Whatever other manner it of∣fers* 1.1067 it self to come forth in, that Birth cannot be said to be Natural; and the more hazardous it is, by how much the posture of the Child is more unusual. For if it offers one Thigh or one Arm, it makes a stop, unless that Member be thrust back and the Birth turn'd. If two Thighs be offered toge∣ther, the delivery may go forward, but with great difficulty, if the Buttocks offer themselves first, the delivery goes not forward, unless very seldom, some∣times the Birth comes forth doubled, but with great difficulty and great dan∣ger. If the Sides or Belly offer them∣selves first, the Delivery is impossible.

How the mature and large Birth should be able to pass through the Straits of the Bones of the Pelvis, stuft with Muscles and other parts, Galen admires, but dares not explain. But it is done, by reason that the Bones of the Share, the Os Sacrum, and the Hip-Bone, their Cartilages being loosen'd, separate a little one from another, as we shall shew more at large. L. •…•…. c. 16.

XII. However it be, or at what∣ever* 1.1068 time the Delivery happens, Na∣ture expels the Birth out of the Womb through the Uterine Sheath, or at least endeavours to do it, and that is the only passage appointed for the Ex∣pulsion

of the Birth. I say, or at least endeavours to do it: for sometimes it hap∣pens, that that same passage being stopt, the Child cannot be expell'd by Nature, but must be drawn forth by the skill of the Surgeon; and that through the passage already mentioned by the hand, either of the Midwife or Surgeon, or by the Assistance of Hooks, which we have tryed with success in many Women, or else by Section made in the Womb and Abdomen, which is called the Caesarian Delivery, concerning which Francis Rous∣set has written a famous Treatise. But it is rarely seen that Nature her self at∣tempts Expulsion, through unwonted Passages. Of which nevertheless Bar∣tholin relates a most Remarkable Story, Lib. de insolit. part. viis. Of a Woman that evacuated several little Bones of a Human Birth, first of all out of her Navel swelling and dissected, next out of an Ulcer in her left Ilium, and this not all at once, which increases the won∣der, nor all together, but at several times, and at several years distance; and those so many, that it was thought they were enough now for the Bodies of Twins. To which Story he adds a long and splendid Explanation; and moreover out of several Authors brings many o∣ther Examples of corrupted Births, eva∣cuated out of the Navel, Hypochondri∣ums, Ilium's open'd, the Fundament, and other unusual Passages; for which we refer the Reader to Bartholin him∣self.

XIII. In the mean time, there are* 1.1069 the Admirable and Stupendious works of Nature, seeing that the Birth must of necessity slip into the Cavity of the Abdomen; through the broken, ul∣cerated, or any other way torn and lacerated Womb; or else the Concepti∣on in the Tube must have miscarryed thither, out of the Tube, being bro∣ken through the Thinness of the Mem∣brane of the Tube, before it could cause those Exulcerations by its cor∣ruption in the parts of the Abdomen. But because many such Women have been restored to their former health, this is most of all to be wondered at, that those inward Wounds and Ulcers of the Womb and Tube, should heal again of themselves, and that the Birth putrifying in that Place, should not with∣al putrify the Guts, Bladder, Mesen∣tery, and other Bowels of the Abdomen, and rather hasten the Death of those un∣fortunate Women, than such an unwon∣ted Delivery.

XIV. We are now to return to the* 1.1070 Causes of Delivery, among which in a natural Delivery we have reckoned the kicking and stirring of the Infant, which is assigned to three Causes, that is to say, the narrowness of the Place, the Corruption of the Nourishment, and the want of it.

XV. The narrowness of the Place* 1.1071 signifies nothing to the purpose: For there are many Women, who having before brought forth very large Births, afterwards are delivered of a little one, and then a great one again.

Now the Place was big enough for that same little one to have stay'd lon∣ger, and there was Nourishment suffici∣ent in it for its larger growth, where there had bin a great one before. More∣over as the Infant grows, so its Domi∣cel the Womb enlarges, which if any cause obstruct, the Birth dies before matur'd, and abortion happens.

XVI. Nor can any such thing be* 1.1072 prov'd from the Corruption of Nou∣rishment; seeing there is no Corrupti∣on of it, but that it is as equally good at the end, as at the beginning. If any one affirm the Urine of the Birth to be mixed with the Nourishment, we shall remit him to the preceding 30, 31, 32. Chapters. Besides, the Birth could not be rendred more vigorous, by the corruption of the Nourishment, to kick and sprawl, but weaker and more infirm. Some there are who with Regius add o∣ver and above, that the Nourishment becomes unpleasant to the Birth by rea∣son of its Corruption, and therefore refusing such ungrateful Nourishment it kicks and spurns, and seeks to get forth. But there can be no Depravation of the Nourishment, and therefore this Opinion presupposes some acute Judg∣ment in the Birth, to distinguish be∣tween the goodness and badness, plea∣santness and ungratefulness of the Nou∣rishment. But what Judgment an Infant has, I leave to any one to consi∣der. For we find Children new born take Sack, Milk, Oyl of sweet Al∣monds, Ale, Syrups, powder of Be∣zoar, &c. without any Distinction, and therefore 'tis not likely it should be able to distinguish the taste of Nourishment in the Womb.

XVII. Neither can it be defect of* 1.1073 Nourishment which causes this spraw∣ling; which would rather occasion weakness and immobility: for all li∣ving

things languish for want of Nou∣rishment; and motion ceasing by de∣grees, at length they dye. Moreover we see many Infants new born that are strong enough, and yet for the first two or three days, receive little Nourish∣ment, which if they had wanted in the Womb, they would not have been so strong, but weak and languishing, and would have been greedy of Nourishment when offered. And to this, that in ma∣ny Women with Child that have hard∣ly Bread to eat, the Birth doth not on∣ly sprawl, but is so weak, that its mo∣tion can hardly be felt in the Womb: but let the Mother feed heartily, the Birth is refreshed, and moves briskly in the Womb. Which is a certain sign that the stronger Motion of the In∣fant proceeds from a sufficient supply of Nourishment, and not from want of Nou∣rishment, which would rather retard than promote delivery.

XVIII. Claudius Courveus find∣ing* 1.1074 these causes, did not promote deli∣very, has contriv'd another, which is, redundancy of Excrement, which he says is sometimes so much, that the Birth constrained by necessity of Eva∣cuation, never leaves kicking till it get forth. Which fiction of Courveus is contrary to Reason and Experience. The one teaching us that there is no ob∣struction to hinder the Birth from Eva∣cuating in the Womb. And it is ap∣parent that very little Excrement can redound, in regard the Infant takes no solid Nourishment in the VVomb. Then Experience tells us, that a new born In∣fant does not piss all the first day, and for three days together many times ne∣ver evacuates by Stool, which it would do as soon as born, were the Opinion of Courveus true.

XIX. Therefore there must be ano∣ther* 1.1075 cause of this strenuous kicking and ensuing Labour, which is the necessity of Breathing and Cooling. For at first the heat of the Embryo is but small, shewing it self like a little spark, that has no need of cooling but of Augmen∣tation. Now this heat encreasing; the Actions and Motions of the Birth en∣crease. At length this Heat encreases to that degree, that it wants Ventilation and cooling: which being deny'd the Infant begins to be more and more disturbed by the heat, and through that disturbance vehemently to move and kick, and by means of that motion to excite the Ute∣rine Humours to an Effervescency, and make way for it self into a freer Air. But that increase of heat happens also in a small Birth, which has stay'd its due time in the VVomb, as well as in a large Infant. So that the cause of Cal∣citration and delivery is the same in a small as in a large Infant if ripen'd in the VVomb.

XX. Thus in very hard winter* 1.1076 Weather, suppose a Man almost num∣med and frozen to death, should be enclosed and shut up in a narrow close Chamber every way stopped up; and there should be a great Fire made in that Chamber. First the heat of that place would Excite and Augment the remaining heat of the enclosed Body. Hence the enclosed Body would begin to come to himself again, and the heat would extreamly refresh and revive him. And set at liberty his benumm'd and frozen Ioynts, so that he might be able to walk and eat. But after∣wards the heat of the Body encreasing beyond due Mediocrity, though he had the choicest and most plentiful Nourish∣ment by him, he would begin to be troubled and sweat. Lastly, Extremity of heat encreasing that anxiety: he be∣gins to turn himself every way, and vi∣olently breaks open the dore for more Air, afraid of being stifl'd.

XXI. Thus in the Birth this same* 1.1077 necessity of Refreshment and Respirati∣on, is the only true and chief cause of Calcitration and Delivery. For when the heat of the Heart is so encreased, as to generate hotter Blood to be now twice dilated in both Ventricles, of neces∣sity, it must be cool'd by Respiration in the Lungs; which Respiration being deny'd, the Infant is Suffocated, as many times it happens when it sticks in hard Labours before it can be expell'd. Now that the necessity of breathing forces the Birth to Calcitration, is apparent from hence, for that as soon as it is born and enjoys a free Air, it presently breaths, and oftentimes cries; to which Respira∣tion it is not forc'd by the ambient Air, but by the necessity of Respiration, be∣sides which there can be no other cause imagined, that can compel the Infant to breath.

XXII. Harvey believes this neces∣sity* 1.1078 of Respiration, is not the cause of Calcitration and delivery; for proof whereof he puts two Questions to be resolved by the Learned. First, How the Embryo comes to remain in the

Womb after the seventh Month; where∣as being expelled at that time it pre∣sently breaths; nay cannot live an hour without Respiration; but re∣maining in the Womb, it abides alive and healthy beyond the ninth Month without the help of Respiration?

To which I answer what I have hint∣ed before, that according to the temper of the Woman, her Seed, her Womb, her Dyet, the heat augments in some Births sooner, in some later, which if they encrease to that bigness in the seventh Month, that refrigeration by Respirati∣on is necessary, then the Birth breaks its prison by Calcitration, and such a Birth, whatever Harvey thinks, can∣not abide alive and sound till the eighth or ninth Month; for the Birth that a∣bides so long in the VVomb, is not come to that degree of heat in the se∣venth Month, as to want Refrigeration.

XXIII. Harvey's other Question* 1.1079 is, How it comes to pass, that a new born Child, covered with all its Mem∣branes, and as yet remaining in its water, shall live for some hours with∣out danger of Suffocation; but being stript of its Secundines, if once it has drawn the Air within its Lungs, cannot afterwards live a Moment with∣out it, but presently dies?

To this Question of two Members I answer, that the first part perhaps may be true of an immature Birth thrown forth by Abortion, by reason of its small heat requiring little Refrigeration: but of a Mature Birth, brought forth in due time, it cannot be true; there be∣ing so much heat in it, as must of ne∣cessity be cool'd by Respiration; and therefore such a Birth being included within the Membranes, cannot live for some hours, as Harvey supposes, nor half an hour, no not a quarter of an hour; And this the Country People know by experience, that a Colt or a Mare, being once brought forth, if it remain included within its Membranes, I will not say an hour, or half an hour, but a very little while, half a quarter of an hour or less, is presently stifled, and therefore they take care that some body stand by, while the Dam has brought forth, to break the Membranes, which if no Body be present, the Dam often does with her Mouth: And which all o∣ther Creatures that bring forth living Conceptions generally do, else the Birth is stifled. But grant the Birth may live half an hour within the Mem∣branes, this makes not against us. For the external Air presently refrigerates the Air included in the Membranes; which being so refrigerated, the Birth for some time may enjoy the benefit of the cool Air: but not long, for that the hot Air sent from the Lungs with the vapourous Breath would in a short time fill the the whole Capacity of the Mem∣branes, and so the Birth for want of cooler Air must of necessity be stifled.

XXIV. To the latter part of Har∣vey's* 1.1080 Question I answer, that so long as no Air is admitted into the Lungs, the Birth may yet live without Respi∣ration, because a small quantity of Blood may be forced out of the Right Ventricle of the Heart, into the thick Lungs; and hence the dilated Blood in the right Ventricle, is not carryed to the left; but through a Channel, by which the Pulmonary Artery is joyned to the Aorta in the Birth; it flows into the Aorta, into which for some time, as being less hot and spirituous, it may flow without Refrigeration, because it is not therein dilated again. But when by the Inspiring of the Air, the substance of the Lungs becomes to be dilated, then the Compressions of the Vessels being all taken away, the spiri∣tuous Blood in great quantity is forced from the right Ventricle of the Heart, into all the open Vessels of the Lungs, which unless it should be somewhat thickned by the Inspiration of the cold Air, could not flow to the left Ventricle, there to be again dilated, but would stuff up the whole Body of the Lungs, and so the Creature would be stifled. And this is the reason that when the Birth has once breathed, it cannot after∣wards live, though never so little a while without Respiration. And therefore that is certainly to be exploded which Bauschi∣us, the Writer of the German Me•…•…ico∣physical Ephemerides, cites out of Patterson Hayn, written to him by Gerges, a certain Hungarian Shepherd. In Hungary, says he, a Woman near her time, in the year 1669. began to fall in labour, insomuch that the Child had already thrust forth his Head without the Womb. But the Birth having cry'd twice or thrice, was drawn back into the Womb, and there remained a fortnight longer, after which the Wo∣man was duly brought to bed.

Now how far this idle story is from Truth, a blind Man may see. For when the Birth has once thrust forth its Head without the VVomb, unless either by

the force of the Womb; its own stri∣ving, or the hand of the Midwife, the whole Body either come forth or be drawn out, the Orifice of the Privity so strengthens it self about the neck of it, that it is presently killed. But by reason of the extraordinary narrowness of the Capacity of the Womb, it can never return back to the inner parts, especially after it has sent forth two or three Cries. This let who will believe, and let Patterson Hayn, and Gerges the Shepherd believe it as long as they please, who have suffered such a Fable to be imposed upon by Tattling Gossips, and ventured so slightly to divulge it for a Truth.

XXV. Lastly it maybe objected a∣gainst* 1.1081 our foresaid Opinion, that it is not probable that the necessity of Respiration forces the Birth to a stron∣ger Calcitration, when the Birth in the Womb breaths sufficiently, consider∣ing the Proportion of its heat. For Vessingius, resting upon the Authori∣ty of Hippocrates, writes that the Lungs of the Birth enclosed in the Womb, by a gentle dilation draws something of Air, and for proof of this, he alledges the Infants being often heard to cry in the Womb. Examples of which are produced by Albertus Magnus, Libavi∣us, Solin, Camerarius, Sennertus, Bartholin, and Deusingius. Also the Learned Velthusius believes, that in this case the Air penetrates to the places where the Infant lies, and that it is at∣tracted by the Infant by Inspiration. Nay the Honourable Robert Boyle, in Expe∣rim. Physic. Mathem. Exercit. 41. seems to confirm this crying by a most memo∣rable Example. I knew a certain Lady, says he, who was with Child some years since; at what time her friends bemoan'd her Condition to me, that she was very much terrified with the Crying of her lit∣tle Infant.

XXVI. But whoever they were,* 1.1082 they were all in an Errour that wrote of the Respiration, and crying of the Birth in the Womb. For first the Relations of these things are taken from the vain stories of idle and unskilful Women and Men; who either conceive Whimsies of their own; or else on set purpose perswade others into a belief of these Vanities. Either to move the Rich to Pity (for generally the poor are they that only hear these Noises) or else to get themselves a name among the Vulgar, by establishing some Pro∣phecy upon these feigned wonders. But we shall hardly read of any person of Reputation, that ever heard this ima∣ginary Crying. Secondly, it is impossi∣ble there should be any breathing or cry∣ing in the Womb, without any Air; but which way shall it come thither. For the Mouth of the Womb is so close∣ly shut, by the Testimony of Galen or Hippocrates, that it will not admit the point of a Probe, nor the least Air or Water. Of which though some make a doubt, yet we found to be true, in the year 1649. When we opened the Body of a young Woman that was poy∣soned, in whose body we found the Womb swollen with a Birth above a hands length; and the Mouth of the Womb not only most closely contracted, but also stopped up with a glutinous, clam∣my, flegmatick Humour, that would not admit the sharp end of a Bodkin, un∣less it should have been forced through the Glewy substance. The same thing we found in December 1665. in a Wo∣man seven Months gone that dy'd sud∣dainly. Moreover besides this closing up the Mouth of the Womb, the Birth is also so exactly enclosed in its Mem∣branes, that no liquor contained within can distil forth, nor any external Air penetrate withinside. VVhich dif∣ficulty Gualter Needham observing after he has related a story as it was told him of a Child that was heard to cry in the Womb of a Noble Woman, L. de format. foet, writes, that the Air cannot come from without to the Birth, but that it may be there generated by the fer∣mentation of the Humours latent with∣in; as wind is bred in the Stomach, Guts and other parts. But this being in some measure granted, how is it possible that the Birth going about to cry, should draw in that or any other Air, when it swims upon the Milkie liquor of the Amnion, which would fill up the Mouth of it? For should it breath in the Air, it would be choaked, in re∣gard the Liquor in the Mouth would slide down into the Lungs, through the rough Artery, together with the Air, and fill up the middle Fistulous part of the Windpipe. Certainly tis a won∣der that those Learned Men who have written concerning this Uterine Crying, have not made this Observation upon it, that the sound which is heard in the Belly of a Woman with Child, which they that hear perhaps take for the cry∣ing of the Infant, proceeds only from the Wind that roars in the Guts, com∣pressed and straitned by the bulk and

weight of the Infant: as we hear some∣times a wonderful whistling of the wind, impetuously forcing it self through the narrow holes of windows, such a one as once I remember I heard my self, with several others, exactly resembling the sighs and groans of a Man in sorrow, or in some great danger; so that all that heard it were frighted, and talked of nothing but Spirits and Hobgoblins, that bewayl'd some terrible Misfortune that was to befal them; whereas after half an hours search we found the winding hole, through which the wind passing, made that lamentable noise, which cea•…•…d upon stopping the Hole. And thus tis no wonder if the Vapours pas∣sing through the streights of the Com∣pressed Guts, sometimes make a whi∣ning noise like the crying of an Infant, as you shall hear in the lower Belly, noises of the wind resembling perfectly the croaking of Frogs, and the Hissing of Serpents. Therefore, says Aristotle, the Infant never cries till it be come forth out of the Womb.

XXVII. Here perhaps an important* 1.1083 doubt will arise, if it be so that the Birth promotes its delivery by vehe∣ment kicking, occasioned by the necessi∣ty of Respiration, and so provokes nature to Expulsion, what's the Rea∣son, 1. That sometimes a very weak Birth, that wants no Respiration, is for∣ced out of the Womb in the fifth or sixth or seventh Month, (in which seventh Month however many mature Births sufficiently strong and lively, and wanting Respiration are born, though it may happen that many Births unripe, very weak, and unable to brook the change of Air and Nourishment, may be and are frequently born in that Month.) 2. That a Birth that dies in the VVomb, consequently requiring no Respiration, is cast forth by female Labour, seeing that in neither of these cases, there is any need of strong Calcitration to promote delivery. I an∣swer to the first, that sometimes a Birth may be sound in the Womb, according to the time that it abides there after For∣mation, though not ripe, that is so weak as not to be able to brook the changes of Air and Nourishment; and that of such a Birth a Woman miscar∣ries by Abortion, not through the ne∣cessity of Respiration, or provoked by sprawling, but by reason of a cause far different, either the flowing in of too much flegm, or too violent Agitation of the Womans Body, or through the rapid, disorderly and violent motion of Spirits and Humours, as in the pas∣sions of Anger or Fear, by all which cause the Placenta is loosned from the VVomb, or the Birth is killed; which then becomes heavy and troublesom to the VVomb, and provokes it to Ex∣pulsion, and to the end that trouble may be expelled, presently the Spirits are sent in great quantity to the Contract∣ing Fibers of the VVomb and Muscles of the Abdomen, which by drawing both the one and the other together expel the Birth.

To the Second I say, that the Birth being dead, for some times the pains of Travel cease, because the kicking and motion of the Birth ceases: neither does the VVoman come to be in travail again, unless her pains are mov'd by Medi∣cines that procure a strong Fermentation in the Humours: Or by the Putrefacti∣on of the Birth, or the Dissolution of the Placenta, or that the sharp Humours bred by the retention of the Secundines sharply boyl among themselves, or that the weight and corruption of the dead Infant, give some particular trouble to the VVomb, and so by the means of a more copious flowing in of the Animal Spirits, excite it to new striving, and a more violent Expulsion.

Of delivery that happens after the Death of VVomen with Child, or dying in Labour, enough has been said, C. 25.

The End of the First Book.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Definition of Anatomy
• * 1.2

  Subject.
• * 1.3

  Different considera∣tion of the Body. Generally.
• * 1.4

  Difference of shape.
• * 1.5

  Difference of Stature.
• * 1.6

  Very tall People.
• * 1.7

  Dwarfs.
• * 1.8

  Difference of colour.
• * 1.9

  Particular considera∣tion of the body.
• * 1.10

  Definition of a part.
• * 1.11

  What con∣tinuity is.
• * 1.12

  What a function is.
• * 1.13

  What vse 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.14

  Things that make up the whole.
• * 1.15

  Where the humors & spirits be parts of the Body.
• * 1.16

  Actions proceed from So∣lids.
• * 1.17

  Solids 〈◊〉〈◊〉 not without the humors.
• * 1.18

  Division▪ the 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.19

  Spermatic, Sanguine, and Mixt.
• * 1.20

  Dissimilar Parts.
• * 1.21

  Organical Parts.
• * 1.22

  Parts not Organic.
• * 1.23

  Principal Parts.
• * 1.24

  Subservi∣ent parts.
• * 1.25

  Noble.
• * 1.26

  Ignoble.
• * 1.27

  The upper∣most Venter or Cavity.
• * 1.28

  The middle Venter.
• * 1.29

  The lower∣most Ven∣ter.
• * 1.30

  Limbs.
• * 1.31

  A Division of the Work.
• * 1.32

  Nomina.
• * 1.33

  The lower Venter.
• * 1.34

  Epigastri∣um.
• * 1.35

  The Region of the Na∣vel.
• * 1.36

  Hypoga∣strium.
• * 1.37

  The Share.
• * 1.38

  Perinae∣um.
• * 1.39

  Loyns.
• * 1.40

  Buttocks.
• * 1.41

  Abdomen.
• * 1.42

  The con∣taining parts.
• * 1.43

  Cuticle.
• * 1.44

  Sometimes double.
• * 1.45

  Original.
• * 1.46

  The Use.
• * 1.47

  The Skin.
• * 1.48

  Its Sub∣stance.
• * 1.49

  The Diffe∣rence.
• * 1.50

  Whether the Instru∣ment of Feeling?
• * 1.51

  The Tem∣per.
• * 1.52

  The Fi∣gure.
• * 1.53

  Motion.
• * 1.54

  Nourish∣ment and Vessels.
• * 1.55

  The Pores.
• * 1.56

  Hair.
• * 1.57

  Colour.
• * 1.58

  The Use.
• * 1.59

  Fat.
• * 1.60

  The Sub∣stance.
• * 1.61

  The effici∣ent Causes
• * 1.62

  Fat Ker∣n•…•…, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 〈◊〉〈◊〉 th•…•…
• * 1.63

  The Tem∣perament.
• * 1.64

  Whether it has any pe∣culiar Mem∣brane?
• * 1.65

  The Fatty Membrane.
• * 1.66

  Whether a∣ny part of the Body.
• * 1.67

  Colour.
• * 1.68

  The Plenty of it.
• * 1.69

  A•…•…eps or Suet.
• * 1.70

  The 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Pannicle.
• * 1.71

  Situation.
• * 1.72

  Connexion.
• * 1.73

  Colour.
• * 1.74

  Zas's ab∣surd Opini∣on of the vse.
• * 1.75

  The Mem∣brane of the Mus∣cles.
• * 1.76

  The Bones.
• * 1.77

  Muscles.
• * 1.78

  Oblique de∣scending.
• * 1.79

  The Linea Alba.
• * 1.80

  Obliquely Ascending.
• * 1.81

  Musculi Recti.
• * 1.82

  The Pyra∣midal Muscles.
• * 1.83

  Their Of∣fice.
• * 1.84

  Transverse Muscles.
• * 1.85

  The Action of the Mus∣cles of the Abdomen.
• * 1.86

  The Peri∣tonaeum.
• * 1.87

  Its Dupli∣city.
• * 1.88

  Its Vessels.
• * 1.89

  The Caul.
• * 1.90

  The De∣scription.
• * 1.91

  Its Sub∣stance and Connexion.
• * 1.92

  Its Vessels.
• * 1.93

  Its Inter∣weaving.
• * 1.94

  The Gla∣dules.
• * 1.95

  Corpora adiposa.
• * 1.96

  Its Situ∣ation.
• * 1.97

  The Big∣ness.
• * 1.98

  The Weight.
• * 1.99

  Its vse.
• * 1.100

  The Sto∣mach.
• * 1.101

  Definition.
• * 1.102

  Mem∣branes.
• * 1.103

  Fibres.
• * 1.104

  The inner Tunicle.
• * 1.105

  Tempera∣ment.
• * 1.106

  The Num∣ber.
• * 1.107

  Figure.
• * 1.108

  Situati•…•….
• * 1.109

  The Big∣ness.
• * 1.110

  The Bot∣tom.
• * 1.111

  The Sto∣mach.
• * 1.112

  The Pylo∣rus.
• * 1.113

  The Ves∣sels.
• * 1.114

  Its Nerves.
• * 1.115

  Its Arte∣ries.
• * 1.116

  Its Veins.
• * 1.117

  Vas breve.
• * 1.118

  It carrys nothing from the Spleen to the Ventri∣cle.
• * 1.119

  The Trian∣gular Space.
• * 1.120

  It is mo∣veable.
• * 1.121

  Wounds of the Sto∣mach m•…•…∣tal.
• * 1.122

  A rare Ob∣servation.
• * 1.123

  That Stones grow in the Ventricle.
• * 1.124

  Its Action.
• * 1.125

  The Chyle.
• * 1.126

  The manner of Conco∣ction.
• * 1.127

  Fermenta∣tion two∣fold.
• * 1.128

  The man∣ner of Fer∣mentation.
• * 1.129

  The force of Fermen∣tation.
• * 1.130

  The reason of Chylifi∣cation.
• * 1.131

  The Colour of the Chyle.
• * 1.132

  Whether it may be red.
• * 1.133

  What i•…•… Hunger.
• * 1.134

  Whether from suck∣ing.
• * 1.135

  Whether from an a∣cid Iuice.
• * 1.136

  Whether from the Iuices of the Arte∣ries.
• * 1.137

  A Story.
• * 1.138

  The tru•…•… Cause.
• * 1.139

  An Ob∣jection.
• * 1.140

  Canine Appe•…•…ite
• * 1.141

  The Fer∣ment.
• * 1.142

  What is the chylifying Heat.
• * 1.143

  The man∣ner of Chy∣lification.
• * 1.144

  The time for Chylifi∣cation.
• * 1.145

  Fat things abate hun∣ger.
• * 1.146

  The 〈…〉〈…〉 diments and 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.147

  The Order of Chyli•…•…i∣cation.
• * 1.148

  The Order of Meats;
• * 1.149

  An Obje∣ction.
• * 1.150

  Whether Choler be generated in the Sto∣mach.
• a 1.151

  To wi•…•… that serous or lympha∣tick Iuice, of which Choler, by means of the Fer∣mentum in the Gall. Bladder i•…•… bred. See more here∣of in▪ Sy∣nopsis Me∣dicinae, l▪ 4. c. 8. Sect. 10. § 14. ad 36. Salmon.
• * 1.152

  This is to be un∣derstood 〈◊〉〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 before •…•…∣pressed, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 we have hinted i•…•… the M•…•…r∣gin of the former P•…•…∣ragraph, Salmon.
• * 1.153

  Whether part of the Chylus be carried to the Spleen?
• * 1.154

  How true this Passage is, I leave to those who have read what I have for∣merly •…•…it in my Synophs Medicinae l 4. c. 8. sect. 10. § 14. ad 36: but be∣sides what we have there spoken we have had several I•…•…cterical Patients, in whom none of this has bin true, but their Stools have bin as nu∣merous as before, and in some more nu∣merous, and in most of them of as good a co∣lour as for∣merly: Moreover, I have near a hundred times seen the Excre∣ments Chy∣lous, white, and some∣times like Clay, void of all man∣ner of red∣dish or yel∣lowish Co∣lour, & yet the Person not only free from the yellow Iaundice, but also in good Health. Salmon.
• * 1.155

  Whether the Chylus enters the Gastric Veins.
• * 1.156

  •…•…he use of 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Chylus. A second •…•…igression. Whether a∣•…•… parts are 〈◊〉〈◊〉 by the Chylus.
• * 1.157

  The 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.158

  Whether they d•…•… 〈◊〉〈◊〉 〈◊〉〈◊〉 to the r•…•…∣king the Chyle.
• * 1.159

  The length.
• * 1.160

  The reason of the length.
• * 1.161

  Their Cir∣cumference
• * 1.162

  Their Sub∣stance and Tunicles.
• * 1.163

  Whether they have an attra∣ctive force.
• * 1.164

  Nerves and Arteries.
• * 1.165

  Veins.
• * 1.166

  The Milly Vessels.
• * 1.167

  Tempera∣ment.
• * 1.168

  Their 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.169

  Their Mo∣tion.
• * 1.170

  An Obser∣vation.
• * 1.171

  1.
• * 1.172

  2.
• * 1.173

  The Divi∣sion.
• * 1.174

  The thin Gut.
• * 1.175

  The Duo∣denum.
• * 1.176

  The Sub∣stance.
• * 1.177

  Situation.
• * 1.178

  The Jeju∣num.
• * 1.179

  Situation and bigness
• * 1.180

  The Ilium Gut.
• * 1.181

  Situation and bigness.
• * 1.182

  The thick Guts.
• * 1.183

  The blind Gut.
• * 1.184

  Connexi∣on.
• * 1.185

  The Use.
• * 1.186

  Situatir.
• * 1.187

  Its Liga∣ment.
• * 1.188

  Connexi∣on.
• * 1.189

  Bauhi∣nus's Valves.
• * 1.190

  The Use.
• * 1.191

  The Inte∣stinum Rectum▪
• * 1.192

  The Big∣ness.
• * 1.193

  Connexi∣on.
• * 1.194

  The Fun∣dament.
• * 1.195

  Haemor∣rhoid Veins.
• * 1.196

  Arteries.
• * 1.197

  Nerves.
• * 1.198

  Situati•…•… and vse.
• * 1.199

  The Divi∣sion.
• * 1.200

  Mem∣branes.
• * 1.201

  Bigness •…•… Shape.
• * 1.202

  •…•…ts Rise.
• * 1.203

  Its Ker∣nels.
• * 1.204

  The use of the Ker∣nels.
• * 1.205

  Observ. 〈◊〉〈◊〉▪
• * 1.206

  Observ. 〈◊〉〈◊〉▪
• * 1.207

  Observ. 3.
• * 1.208

  The Opini∣on of Ri∣olanus.
• * 1.209

  Its Nerves.
• * 1.210

  Its Arte∣ries.
• * 1.211

  It•…•… Veins.
• * 1.212

  Milkie Vessels.
• * 1.213

  The defini∣tion and si∣tuation.
• * 1.214

  Shape.
• * 1.215

  Connexion.
• * 1.216

  Its Sub∣stance.
• * 1.217

  Its Colour.
• * 1.218

  Its bigness.
• * 1.219

  Its weight.
• * 1.220

  Its Nerves
• * 1.221

  Arteries.
• * 1.222

  Veins.
• * 1.223

  Lymphatic Vessels.
• * 1.224

  The Exit of the Cha∣nel.
• * 1.225

  Whether the Chanel be an Ar∣tery.
• * 1.226

  The Office of the Sweetbread
• * 1.227

  A Digres∣sion.
• * 1.228

  The use of the Sweet∣bread Iuice.
• * 1.229

  The Gene∣ration of the panore∣atic Iuice.
• * 1.230

  The Effer∣vescency of the Choler, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 〈◊〉〈◊〉 〈◊〉〈◊〉 〈◊〉〈◊〉.]
• * 1.231

  The Name.
• * 1.232

  The De∣scription.
• * 1.233

  The Ori∣ginal.
• * 1.234

  How they pass the Glandules.
• * 1.235

  Their Valves.
• * 1.236

  Their Use.
• * 1.237

  A Proof.
• * 1.238

  The impul∣sive Cause.
• * 1.239

  Whether 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Chylus •…•…e attracted.
• * 1.240

  The De∣scription.
• * 1.241

  The Great Lymphatic Chanel.
• * 1.242

  The Disco∣verers.
• * 1.243

  The Recep∣tacle of the Chyle.
• * 1.244

  The Recep∣tacle of the Lympha.
• * 1.245

  The Num∣ber.
• * 1.246

  The Shape.
• * 1.247

  The Big∣ness.
• * 1.248

  The Wi•…•…∣ness.
• * 1.249

  Ductus Chylife∣rus of the Breast.
• * 1.250

  Two Cha∣nels.
• * 1.251

  Two or more Re∣ceptacles of the Chyle.
• * 1.252

  The Inser∣tion.
• * 1.253

  Its Valves.
• * 1.254

  The way to discover it.
• * 1.255

  Lewis de Bill's Cir∣cle.
• * 1.256

  The vse.
• * 1.257

  The ascent of the Chylus.
• * 1.258

  The impul∣sive Cause.
• * 1.259

  Whether the whole Chylus as∣cend to the Subclavial.
• * 1.260

  Whether the whole Chylus as∣cend through the Mesaraic Veins to the Liver?
• * 1.261

  The Defi∣nition.
• * 1.262

  The Dis∣coverers.
• * 1.263

  The Names.
• * 1.264

  The Sub∣stance.
• * 1.265

  Their Number.
• * 1.266

  Colour and Shape.
• * 1.267

  Their Valves.
• * 1.268

  Bils's Error.
• * 1.269

  Their Si∣tuation.
• * 1.270

  Their Rise.
• * 1.271

  From the Lungs.
• * 1.272

  Their In∣sertion in∣to several Parts.
• * 1.273

  Their In∣sertion in∣the Veins.
• * 1.274

  Bils's Error.
• * 1.275

  Whether the Lym∣pha be the same with the chylous Iuice;
• * 1.276

  The •…•…∣tation.
• * 1.277

  What sort of Liquor the Lym∣pha is?
• * 1.278

  Whether Water.
• * 1.279

  Whether a Vapour of the Blood.
• * 1.280

  Whether the Lym∣phatis Ves∣sels are Veins.
• * 1.281

  Whether composed of Animal Spirits and Acids.
• * 1.282

  Whether A∣limentary.
• * 1.283

  What sort of Liquor it is.
• * 1.284

  Whether the Serum.
• * 1.285

  The diffe∣rence be∣tween the Lympha and the Se∣rum.
• * 1.286

  The Impul∣sive Cause.
• * 1.287

  The Cause of the Dropsie call'd Asci∣tes.
• * 1.288

  1. Observa∣tion.
• * 1.289

  2. Observa∣tion.
• * 1.290

  Lobes.
• * 1.291

  Bigness.
• * 1.292

  Substance.
• * 1.293

  As to the truth of this Hypo∣thesis, see our Synopsis Medicinae, lib. 4. cap. 8. Sect. 10. §. 14. ad 36. where we have, by indubitable Reason, strong Argu∣ments, and matter of Fact, prov'd that there is no Choler or B•…•…le separated from the Blood in the Liver. Salmon.
• * 1.294

  Whether the Liver may be call'd a Bowel.
• * 1.295

  Colour of the Liver.
• * 1.296

  The Tem∣perament.
• * 1.297

  Its Mem∣brane.
• * 1.298

  The Liga∣ments.
• * 1.299

  Its 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.300

  Its Arte∣ries.
• * 1.301

  The Veins.
• * 1.302

  The Choler Vessels.
• * 1.303

  The Lym∣phatic Vessels.
• * 1.304

  The Inter∣mixture of the Vessels.
• * 1.305

  The Pas∣sage of the •…•…lood out of the Por∣ta into the Cava.
• * 1.306

  Glisson's memorable Experi∣ment.
• * 1.307

  The Office of the Li∣ver.
• * 1.308

  Whether it be a Streiner.
• * 1.309

  The true office.
• * 1.310

  None wounded in the Liver escape.
• * 1.311

  Worms and Stones in the Liver.
• * 1.312

  I once saw the Li∣ver of a great Drinker of Canary, which when it was cut in two with the Knife, abounded with ma∣ny thousands of Worms; and above a quart of small living Worms were taken from it: this man usually drank two, three, or four quarts of Canary in a day, and that for some years together, by reason whereof he grew fat, and dyed suddenly without any pre∣monitory Sickness: indeed the whole Substance of the Liver was nothing but Worms. Salmon.
• * 1.313

  The Liver sometimes joyned with the Lungs.
• * 1.314

  A History.
• * 1.315

  Another Rarity, where no Liver or Spleen could be found.
• * 1.316

  Two passa∣ges in the right and hollow part of the Li∣ver.
• * 1.317

  Rather a kind of Lymphatic Iuice, f•…•…r in the place above-cited of Synop. sis Medicinae, it is there demonstratively proved, that there is 〈◊〉〈◊〉 such thing in Nature, as the separation of Gall from the 〈◊〉〈◊〉; but a kind of Lymphatic Iuice, which by the Fermentum of the Gall-bladder is changed into Gall. Salmon.
• * 1.318

  The Gall-bladder.
• * 1.319

  Situation.
• * 1.320

  Mem∣branes.
• * 1.321

  Its Fibres.
• * 1.322

  Two sorts of Vessels.
• * 1.323

  The divisi∣on.
• * 1.324

  The bot∣tom.
• * 1.325

  Stones sometimes found in it.
• * 1.326

  Observati∣on.
• * 1.327

  I have twice in my life seen Patients afflicted with a green Iaundice: the one I cured; the other dyed, being given over by other Physicians, as uncurable. The Patient whom I cured, was all over of a yellowish green: he which dyed was of a dark or deep green. The cause or reason for this Distemper is rendred in our Synopsis Medicinae, lib. 4. cap. S. Sect. 10. § 26. ad 36. to which I refer you. Salmon.
• * 1.328

  The Neck.
• * 1.329

  Whether a∣ny Valves in it.
• * 1.330

  This is something of the Do∣ctrine which we have main∣tained in the places aforecited of our Sy∣nopsis Me∣dicinae; which thing is worthy the serious con∣sideration of all the Sons of Art: and it is without doubt, the same kind of Iuice, which being conveyed to other parts (as the Amygdalae, maxillary Glandules, Womens Breasts, Piss-bladders, Pancreas, Seminal Vessels, and Pores of the Skin,) by the Fermentum of the same parts is converted into the Humor proper to the same; (as Spittle, Milk, Urine, and Iuice, Seed, and Sweat.) Salmon.
• * 1.331

  The way of the Choler to the Blad∣der.
• ‖ 1.332

  That is, the Serous or Lympha∣phatic Iuice, which by the Fermentum of the Bladder, as afore∣said, is changed into the Choleric Humor, for several and vari∣ous intentions of Nature. Salmon.
• * 1.333

  The vse.
• * 1.334

  The Bilary Porus.
• * 1.335

  The Valves.
• * 1.336

  Whether two sorts of Choler.
• * 1.337

  Differen∣ces of Cho∣ler.
• * 1.338

  Or rather Iuice, for the genera∣ting of Choler, as aforesaid. Salmon.
• * 1.339

  The way of the Choler into the Bilary Po∣rus.
• * 1.340

  Sylvius his Opinion.
• * 1.341

  The Choler is taken from the Substance of the Li∣ver.
• * 1.342

  The Du∣ctus Cho∣lidochus.
• * 1.343

  It is for the most part solita∣ry.
• * 1.344

  Its Valves.
• * 1.345

  Glisson would have it to be a Sphincter Muscle.
• * 1.346

  An Obje∣ction •…•…∣swer'd.
• * 1.347

  An unusual Constituti∣on.
• * 1.348

  A white Gall-Blad∣der.
• * 1.349

  An Argu∣ment for the Passage of Choler through the bilary Pore.
• * 1.350

  Whether the Choler •…•…ows conti∣nually.
• * 1.351

  The unu•…•…u∣al Chanel.
• * 1.352

  A Digres∣sion.
• * 1.353

  That is to say the Iuice ge∣nerating Choler more speci∣ally, be∣cause the same Iuice cannot be brought from other remote Parts at the same time. Salmon.
• * 1.354

  What Cho∣ler is.
• a 1.355

  That is to say, the said Iuice is prepared and fitted in the Liver for Separation, to be received into the Gall-Bladder, and there by the Fermentum inherent, to be perfected, and made that choleric Iuice, which is bitter, and so sent into the Ieju∣num. Salmon.
• * 1.356

  The M•…•…i∣on of C•…•…∣ler.
• * 1.357

  Whether Choler be generated in 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Par•…•….
• * 1.358

  The Place generating Choler, de∣pends upon the inner Tunicle of the Gall-Bladder, & the Choler residing therein.
• * 1.359

  A new Opi∣nion.
• * 1.360

  This Opinion of Sylvius comes very near the Truth, if it be considered as to the Particles or Matter of which Choler is ge∣nerated: But as to the Ways and Passages leading that Matter to the proper Place, I am very confident he is wide from the Mark▪ For the Passages out of the Liver into the Gall-Bladder (whi•…•… are indeed Strainers)▪ are evident in many Persons to the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Eyes; but with a Microscope, they appear famous. So 〈◊〉〈◊〉 deny them, a man must absolutely deny his Senses. Salmon.
• * 1.361

  I beg the Diversion of the Au∣thor in be∣lieving of this, since the contra∣ry can be prov'd by ocular De∣monstrati∣on. Salmon.
• * 1.362

  The Inser∣tion of the Hepatic Artery into the Bran∣ches of the Porus un∣certain.
• * 1.363

  Whether Choler be only sepa∣rated and not gene∣rated.
• * 1.364

  This Assertion of the learned Author agrees with Truth it self, and with what we have before (in several places) declared con∣cerning this matter, and without doubt in this Sense he is al∣ways to be understood, when he speaks at any time of the Sepa∣ration of Choler from the Blood in the Liver, viz. That it is a certain Substance intended for Choler, but not Choler it self: The which Substance or Iuice is neither Yellow nor Bit∣ter, nor Choler, nor contains any Choler till it is transmitted thereinto by the proper Ferment of the Part. Salmon.
• * 1.365

  Colour and Tast.
• * 1.366

  Variety of Colours from vari∣ety of Hu∣mors, con∣firm'd by Observati∣on.
• * 1.367

  Whether the Choler ascend to the Liver through the Porus.
• * 1.368

  The use of the Choler.
• * 1.369

  Its chief vse is for Fermenta∣tion.
• * 1.370

  The names.
• * 1.371

  Unusual Situation.
• * 1.372

  The num∣ber.
• * 1.373

  The Con∣nexion.
• * 1.374

  Not ma∣ny months ago I had a Child un∣der my cure who had a Spleen so large, that it covered almost the whole Ab∣domen, and reached down to the left Groin: it was so apparent, that it might outward∣ly be felt, being above nine Inches in length, and about seven In∣ches in breadth. The Child died, and was opened; by which we were confirmed in the extravagancy of this Bowel. Salmon.
• * 1.375

  The big∣ness.
• * 1.376

  Lean people most subject to 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Spleens.
• * 1.377

  Small Spleens.
• * 1.378

  The Shape.
• * 1.379

  〈◊〉〈◊〉 Colour.
• * 1.380

  Mem∣braces.
• * 1.381

  Various Lymphatic Vessels, form'd like a kind of Net.
• * 1.382

  It is fur∣nish'd with Fibres.
• * 1.383

  Its Vessels.
• * 1.384

  Its Arte∣ries.
• * 1.385

  Its Veins.
• * 1.386

  Highmore denies the great num∣ber of the Veins.
• * 1.387

  Its Valves.
• * 1.388

  Its A•…•…▪ moses.
• * 1.389

  The Vas breve.
• * 1.390

  Internal Haemor∣rhoid V•…•…
• * 1.391

  No Chy∣lus goes to the Spleen.
• * 1.392

  Its Nerves
• * 1.393

  Whether they carry any Ali∣mentary Liquor?
• * 1.394

  Wherefore the Spleen is not so quick of Feeling.
• * 1.395

  The Sub∣stance.
• * 1.396

  Whether •…•… be li•…•… 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Substance of the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 ver.
• * 1.397

  Whether it be bloody.
• * 1.398

  Little Glandules in the Spleen.
• * 1.399

  Unusual things found in the Spleen.
• * 1.400

  The Tem∣per of the Spleen.
• * 1.401

  The Acti∣on.
• * 1.402

  Whether it separate Melancholy from the Chylus.
• * 1.403

  Whether it make Blood.
• * 1.404

  Whether it prepare blood for the •…•…eart.
• * 1.405

  Whether it 〈◊〉〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 part of the blood.
• * 1.406

  Whether it nourish the Nerves.
• * 1.407

  Whether the seat of the Soul.
• * 1.408

  An Expe∣riment of Malpigius
• * 1.409

  The true Action of the Spleen.
• * 1.410

  Whether a man may live with his Spleen cut out.
• * 1.411

  The former Opinion re∣•…•…ed by Reason.
• * 1.412

  By Experi∣ence.
• * 1.413

  The Spleen▪ not of so great vse in a Dog as in a Man.
• * 1.414

  It is a most necessary Bowel for Life.
• * 1.415

  A Dig•…•…∣sion.
• * 1.416

  The •…•…∣ons of the three •…•…∣els.
• * 1.417

  The Fer∣ment of Bread•…•…, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 〈◊〉〈◊〉 〈◊〉〈◊〉 〈◊〉〈◊〉 operates.
• * 1.418

  N•…•…te this 〈◊〉〈◊〉, viz. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Honey 〈◊〉〈◊〉 the Ferment.
• * 1.419

  Chyle and 〈◊〉〈◊〉 fer∣•…•… in 〈◊〉〈◊〉 same 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.420

  The Liver causes the Ferment.
• * 1.421

  The matter of the Fer∣ment.
• * 1.422

  Preparati∣on of the Ferment.
• * 1.423

  Yest, or the Ferment of Beer.
• * 1.424

  Generation of Choler.
• * 1.425

  Choler slides down the Ductus Cholido∣chus into the Jeju∣num.
• * 1.426

  Why the Jejunum is empty.
• * 1.427

  How 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Choler 〈◊〉〈◊〉 com•…•… 〈◊〉〈◊〉 sharp.
• * 1.428

  The far∣ther Pro∣gress of the Fermenta∣tion.
• * 1.429

  〈◊〉〈◊〉 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Blood.
• * 1.430

  The Origi∣nal of Fer∣ment.
• * 1.431

  Blood is made of the Chylus in the Heart.
• * 1.432

  Another Ferment in the Spleen.
• * 1.433

  Fer•…•… 〈◊〉〈◊〉 〈◊〉〈◊〉 degrees 〈◊〉〈◊〉 be 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.434

  The true Office of the Liver, Spleen, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 〈◊〉〈◊〉 to 〈◊〉〈◊〉 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.435

  〈…〉〈…〉.
• * 1.436

  The first Matter of the Fer∣ment pre∣pared in the Spleen.
• * 1.437

  The rise of Diseases from the Spleen.
• * 1.438

  In a weak Spleen the acid Iuice is not e∣nough con∣cocted.
• * 1.439

  The said Ferment too thin & full of Spi∣rits causes other Di∣seases.
• * 1.440

  The Spleen vitiated begets ma∣ny Evils.
• * 1.441

  The Fun∣ctions of the Liver are apparent from the Diseases that pro∣ceed from it.
• * 1.442

  Diseases a∣rising from the Spleen.
• * 1.443

  The cause of Anasar∣ca.
• * 1.444

  The Liver Scirrhous.
• * 1.445

  Ferment in the Birth.
• * 1.446

  Conclusion.
• * 1.447

  The •…•… derac. twee•…•… Live•…•… Splee•…•…
• * 1.448

  Of rum Rei•…•…
• * 1.449

  The give cessa thin flux to 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Bloo•…•…
• * 1.450

  Whether it be an Ali∣mentary Iuice.
• * 1.451

  The Emun∣ctories twofold.
• * 1.452

  The exter∣nal Eva∣cuatories.
• * 1.453

  The exter∣nal Evacu∣atories of the Serum.
• * 1.454

  Whether a∣ny diffe∣rence be∣tween the Serum, Sweat and Urine.
• * 1.455

  The Reins▪
• * 1.456

  Two in number.
• * 1.457

  Their place
• * 1.458

  The Situa∣tion.
• * 1.459

  The Big∣ness.
• * 1.460

  The Fi∣gure.
• * 1.461

  Their Mem∣branes.
• * 1.462

  The Vesse
• * 1.463

  The Emul∣gent Arte∣ry.
• * 1.464

  The Emul∣gent Vein.
• * 1.465

  The left Emulgent Vein high∣er and longer than the right.
• * 1.466

  The di∣spersing of the Vessels through the Kidneys.▪
• * 1.467

  The Pelvis.
• * 1.468

  The Papil∣lary Ca∣runcles.
• * 1.469

  The Sub∣stance of the Reins.
• * 1.470

  The Super∣ficies smooth in Men, rough in Chil∣dren.
• * 1.471

  The Disco∣veries of Malpigius
• * 1.472

  The use of the Reins.
• * 1.473

  The first Digression.
• * 1.474

  How the Separation of the Se∣rum is made.
• * 1.475

  Whe•…•… 〈◊〉〈◊〉 the K•…•…∣nels?
• * 1.476

  This 〈◊〉〈◊〉 be much doubted whether that which after •…•…∣sing, when the inter∣nal hea•…•… of it is va∣nished, ap∣pear to be Matter, slimy Flegm, or other very thick Humours, came so thick out of the Reins, or that Gravel or Sand should be sent out of the Blood i•…•… that largeness: I think, yea know the contrary; and that •…•…ose so thick Humours, Matter, or Flegm, are as thin as the rest of the Urine from the internal heat of the parts; after the same manner as it happens in Gelly-broths, which while very hot, will be liquid and fluid, but having lost their heat, become thicker: the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 happens in the Reins, but with this difference, that the glutino•…•… Substance is less in proportion to the quantity of Urine, than it is in Gellies, and therefore being •…•…old cannot be so thick and 〈◊〉〈◊〉: so Sand or Gravel, while in the Blood, is no such thing, but a 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Paste or Tartar, which after hardens in that form. Salmon.
• * 1.477

  Observ. 1.
• * 1.478

  Observ. 2.
• * 1.479

  Observ. 3.
• * 1.480

  The thing farther considered.
• * 1.481

  The thing considered in solids.
• * 1.482

  Annot. ad c. 14. de Sub∣stan. fac. Natural.
• * 1.483

  Serm. 4. Tract. 4. c. 29.
• * 1.484

  •…•…. 8. Sym∣pos. Prob. 9.
• * 1.485

  Other pas∣sages sup∣posed lead∣ing to the Bladder.
• * 1.486

  The milkie Vessels to the Bladder and Womb.
• * 1.487

  Bartho∣line's O∣pinion, that there is some other and shorter way.
• * 1.488

  Clemens Niloe his Opinion.
• * 1.489

  The Opini∣on of Ber∣nard Swalve in this m•…•…r.
• * 1.490

  Whether there be a consent be∣tween the Kidneys.
• * 1.491

  Second di∣gression.
• * 1.492

  Whether the Kid∣neys 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Blood.
• * 1.493

  Another Action.
• * 1.494

  Refuta∣tion.
• * 1.495

  That no Sp•…•…cifick Vessels are extended from the Reins to the Testicles.
• * 1.496

  Whether Wounds in the Kid∣neys be mortal.
• * 1.497

  A Plexure of Nerves between the two Kid∣neys.
• * 1.498

  The Names.
• * 1.499

  Situation.
• * 1.500

  The Num∣ber.
• * 1.501

  Substance.
• * 1.502

  The Fi∣gure
• * 1.503

  Bigness.
• * 1.504

  Tunicle.
• * 1.505

  Concavity;
• * 1.506

  Whar∣ton's Ob∣servation.
• * 1.507

  Artery from the Emulgent,
• * 1.508

  Nerves from the Ramus Thoraci∣cus.
• * 1.509

  Use of these Glandules not well known.
• * 1.510

  Definition.
• * 1.511

  Source.
• * 1.512

  Number.
• * 1.513

  The Sub∣stance.
• * 1.514

  Bigness.
• * 1.515

  Situation.
• * 1.516

  Definition.
• * 1.517

  Situation.
• * 1.518

  Mem∣branes.
• * 1.519

  The Fi∣gure.
• * 1.520

  Bigness.
• * 1.521

  Its Conca∣vities.
• * 1.522

  Its Holes.
• * 1.523

  Its Vessels▪
• * 1.524

  Its Divisi∣on.
• * 1.525

  The Bot∣tom.
• * 1.526

  The Neck.
• * 1.527

  Its Valves.
• * 1.528

  See Table 3. & 4.
• * 1.529

  Preamble.
• * 1.530

  The Privi∣ties.
• * 1.531

  Genitals.
• * 1.532

  The Geni∣tal Parts of Men.
• * 1.533

  The sper∣matic Ves∣sels.
• * 1.534

  Spermatic Arteries.
• * 1.535

  Whether the Arte∣ries m•…•…y be wanting.
• * 1.536

  Spermatic Veins car∣ry the Blood to the Ve∣na Cava.
• * 1.537

  Valves.
• * 1.538

  The Pro∣gress of the Spermatic Vessels.
• * 1.539

  The Way they make.
• * 1.540

  The Error of the A∣natomists.
• * 1.541

  The Fold represent∣ing the Form of the Ten∣drils of a Vine.
• * 1.542

  Hernia varicosa.
• * 1.543

  Hernia Carnosa.
• * 1.544

  De Graef's Opinion.
• * 1.545

  No Anasto∣moses.
• * 1.546

  The Office of the Ves∣sels.
• * 1.547

  The Stones.
• * 1.548

  Their num∣ber.
• * 1.549

  Situation.
• * 1.550

  Shape and •…•…igness.
• * 1.551

  Their Sub∣stance.
• * 1.552

  The Seed∣bearing Vessels ex∣tended to a great length.
• * 1.553

  Vessels.
• * 1.554

  Distributi∣on of the Vessels.
• * 1.555

  The use and Office of the Stones.
• * 1.556

  A Questi∣on, How the Separa∣tion of va∣rious Par∣ticles from the Blood are made?
• * 1.557

  How Nature performs this Opera∣tion we have de∣monstra∣tively shewn in our Synop∣sis Medi∣cinae, lib. 4. cap. 8. Sect. 10. §. 14. ad 36. to which I shall refer you. Sal∣mon.
• * 1.558

  Lymphatic•…•… Vessels ob∣served in the Testi∣cles.
• * 1.559

  The Tuni∣cle called Albugi∣neous.
• * 1.560

  The Vagi∣nal Tuni∣cle.
• * 1.561

  The Mus∣cles.
• * 1.562

  The •…•…od, call'd Scro∣tum.
• * 1.563

  Signs of Health.
• * 1.564

  The Seed flows from the Testi∣cles through the Deferent Vessels.
• * 1.565

  The Para∣statae.
• * 1.566

  The Begin∣ning.
• * 1.567

  The Pro∣gress.
• * 1.568

  Their Sub∣stance.
• * 1.569

  The Functi∣on.
• * 1.570

  Vasa defe∣rentia.
• * 1.571

  Other Opi∣nions.
• * 1.572

  That is to say, the Lymphatic Matter, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 or A•…•…eous Iuice, call it by what Name you please, which is separated from the Blood, and sent by the Vasa spermatica into the Testicles, is there by their own proper Fermentum converted into Seed, as we have formerly declared concerning the Generation of other Iuices destinated to particular Ends according to the Nature of the Parts and Necessities enforcing the same. As our Author even in this place declares in so many Words, to wit, That it is done by a specific Fermentation of Humour in some speci∣fic Part or Bowel, without which it could not be made: the reason of which he renders immediately, for that the said Bowels, when weak or enfeebled, are not then able to prepare those new Iuices. Salmon.
• * 1.573

  Their Pro∣gress.
• * 1.574

  Seminal Vessels.
• * 1.575

  Their Sub∣stance.
• * 1.576

  Bigness.
• * 1.577

  Situation.
• * 1.578

  Number.
• * 1.579

  Their Ca∣vities.
• * 1.580

  Whether any Valve.
• * 1.581

  The Cause of the Go∣norrhea.
• * 1.582

  The Pro∣states.
• * 1.583

  The bigness
• * 1.584

  Their Ves∣sels.
• * 1.585

  Their Li∣quor.
• * 1.586

  The passage of this Li∣quor.
• * 1.587

  How they may be dis∣cerned.
• * 1.588

  Its Muscle.
• * 1.589

  The form of the Pro∣statae.
• * 1.590

  They are indu'd with an acute Sense.
• * 1.591

  Their Use.
• * 1.592

  Whether a threefold Seed.
• * 1.593

  Two Que∣stions.
• * 1.594

  The action of the Stones.
• * 1.595

  Reasons a∣gainst the former Ob∣jections.
• * 1.596

  By what power Seed is genera∣ted.
• * 1.597

  Whether Males are begot by the right Stone, Fe∣males by the left.
• * 1.598

  The Yard.
• * 1.599

  The Names
• * 1.600

  Wheth•…•…r a living Creature.
• * 1.601

  Situation, Figure, and Bigness.
• * 1.602

  Its Sub∣s•…•…nce.
• * 1.603

  The Ure∣thra.
• * 1.604

  The large∣ness.
• * 1.605

  Its vse.
• * 1.606

  The ner∣vous Bo∣dies.
• * 1.607

  Their Rise.
• * 1.608

  The Vessels of the ner∣vous Bo∣dies.
• * 1.609

  The Glans.
• * 1.610

  Figure and Colour.
• * 1.611

  Substance.
• * 1.612

  The Fore∣skin.
• * 1.613

  The Bridle.
• * 1.614

  Praeputi∣um.
• * 1.615

  The Vessels of the Yard, and first the Arte∣ries.
• * 1.616

  The Veins.
• * 1.617

  The Nerves.
• * 1.618

  Muscles.
• * 1.619

  Erection of the Yard.
• * 1.620

  Its Office. Whether a∣ny Genera∣tion with∣out the Im∣mission of the Yard.
• * 1.621

  The Parts adjoyning.
• * 1.622

  A prooemial Discourse.
• * 1.623

  The Divi∣sion.
• * 1.624

  The prepa∣ring Ves∣sels.
• * 1.625

  Spermatic Arteries two.
• * 1.626

  Spermatic Veins.
• * 1.627

  Nerves.
• * 1.628

  Lymphatic Vessels.
• * 1.629

  The Sper∣matic Ves∣sels adhere to the Te∣sticles.
• * 1.630

  The first Discoverer of these Ovaries.
• * 1.631

  Their Number.
• * 1.632

  Weight & Magni∣tude.
• * 1.633

  By this account it appears that the Testicles of a Man weigh but three Drams: However whether they may be ac∣counted as the more general Weight or Magnitude in all Men, I will not determine. This I can tell, that in two Men opened, neither of which were extraordinary great or large Persons, a Testicle of the one weighed six Drams, and of the other five Drams: So that I believe there is a great Diversity, •…•…s to the Weight of them, in all Mankind. Salmon.
• * 1.634

  Situation.
• * 1.635

  Their Fi∣gure.
• * 1.636

  The Tuni∣cle.
• * 1.637

  Difference from mens T•…•…icles.
• * 1.638

  Their Sub∣stance.
• * 1.639

  Preterna∣tural things in Womens Stones.
• * 1.640

  Eggs.
• * 1.641

  The Mem∣branes of Eggs.
• * 1.642

  Eggs in all sorts of Creatures.
• * 1.643

  The Mat∣ter of Eggs.
• * 1.644

  Ovaries.
• * 1.645

  Various Errors of the coming of the Seed to the Womb.
• * 1.646

  The true way of the Seed and the Eggs.
• * 1.647

  The Tubes.
• * 1.648

  What the Tubes are.
• * 1.649

  Their Mem∣branes.
• * 1.650

  The Figure of the Tubes.
• * 1.651

  The Vessels.
• * 1.652

  Whether they have Valves.
• * 1.653

  Whether distin∣guished in∣to Cells.
• * 1.654

  Length.
• * 1.655

  How the Eggs come from the Testicles to the Womb.
• * 1.656

  A difficulty concerning the Wind∣eggs in Women.
• * 1.657

  The opini∣on of Wind∣eggs con∣firm'd.
• * 1.658

  The reason of the re∣laxation of the Tubes.
• * 1.659

  Births con∣ceiv'd and form'd in the Tubes.
• * 1.660

  This whole business de∣monstrated at the The∣atre in Amster∣dam.
• * 1.661

  How the Substance of the O∣vary be∣comes spun∣gy and o∣pen.
• * 1.662

  Three things to be consider'd in Womens Eggs.
• * 1.663

  Whence the pleasure of Copulation▪
• * 1.664

  Whether Women may be ca∣strated, and have their Stones cut out?
• * 1.665

  Another sort of Ca∣stration.
• * 1.666

  The W•…•….
• * 1.667

  Its 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.668

  Its Sub∣stan•…•….
• * 1.669

  Its Mem∣brane.
• * 1.670

  The space between the Mem∣branes.
• * 1.671

  The bigness
• * 1.672

  Its weight.
• * 1.673

  Its shape.
• * 1.674

  Its hollow∣ness.
• * 1.675

  The Horns.
• * 1.676

  〈◊〉〈◊〉 conne∣xion.
• * 1.677

  Its Liga∣menis.
• * 1.678

  The opini∣ons of So∣ranus and Aretaeus about the falling down of the Womb, re∣futed.
• * 1.679

  Whether the Womb can fall.
• * 1.680

  Whether the Womb be inverted in the fall.
• * 1.681

  The other pair of Li∣gaments whence they proceed.
• * 1.682

  Its Vessels.
• * 1.683

  Arteries.
• * 1.684

  Veins.
• * 1.685

  The cause of the flow∣ers.
• * 1.686

  What is the Uterine Ferment.
• * 1.687

  Aristotle's Opinion.
• * 1.688

  Whether from the redundant blood?
• * 1.689

  Nerves.
• * 1.690

  Its Office.
• * 1.691

  〈…〉〈…〉
• * 1.692

  Whether it forms the Birth.
• * 1.693

  Whether the Birth may be form'd out of the womb.
• * 1.694

  The Moti∣on of the womb.
• * 1.695

  What as∣cends or ri∣ses up in sits of the Mo∣ther, is not the womb.
• * 1.696

  Whether Hysterical Effects a∣rise from the Sweet∣bread Iuice?
• * 1.697

  Nothing to be conclu∣ded from Scents con∣cerning the Motion of the Womb.
• * 1.698

  Why stink∣ing Smells are profi∣table.
• * 1.699

  Why sweet Smells are hurtful.
• * 1.700

  The Moti∣on of the Womb in Women with Child.
• * 1.701

  Its Motion in falling down.
• * 1.702

  A Child born, the Mother be∣ing dead.
• * 1.703

  The parts of the Womb enumera∣ted.
• * 1.704

  The Bot∣tom.
• * 1.705

  Its Cavity.
• * 1.706

  The N•…•….
• * 1.707

  Whether the Yard reach the Orifice of the W•…•….
• * 1.708

  The sheath.
• * 1.709

  The large∣ness.
• * 1.710

  The Vessels of the Sheath.
• * 1.711

  The Arte∣ries.
• * 1.712

  The Veins.
• * 1.713

  Its Nerves.
• * 1.714

  Lymphatic Vessels.
• * 1.715

  The Neck of the Blad∣der.
• * 1.716

  The Net∣resembling Fold.
• * 1.717

  The use of the Vagi∣na.
• * 1.718

  The reason of that use.
• * 1.719

  A thin ner∣vous Mem∣brane call'd Hymen.
• * 1.720

  Hymen sometimes not perfo∣rated, but like a Sive.
• * 1.721

  Whether Hymen or no?
• * 1.722

  Whether the want of the Hymen be a sign of Virginity lost.
• * 1.723

  The Myr∣tle form'd little pieces of Flesh.
• * 1.724

  Their vse.
• * 1.725

  The Wo∣mans Pri∣vities.
• * 1.726

  The out∣ward part of the Womb, or Vulva.
• * 1.727

  The big∣ness.
• * 1.728

  The Lips.
• * 1.729

  The Mount of Venus.
• * 1.730

  Of what they are composed▪
• * 1.731

  A slight Motion in the Lips.
• * 1.732

  The Nymphs.
• * 1.733

  Their Sub∣stance.
• * 1.734

  Their Ves∣sels.
• * 1.735

  Their Use.
• * 1.736

  An Obser∣vation.
• * 1.737

  The Cleft of the Pri∣vity.
• * 1.738

  The Clito∣ris.
• * 1.739

  Its Sul∣stance.
• * 1.740

  The Ten∣tigo.
• * 1.741

  Its Mus∣cles.
• * 1.742

  Its Arte∣ries and o∣ther Ves∣sels.
• * 1.743

  Its Nerves.
• * 1.744

  A bonie Clitoris.
• * 1.745

  The Exit of the Vri∣nary Pas∣sage.
• * 1.746

  The neck of the Blad∣der.
• * 1.747

  The Pro∣states of Women.
• * 1.748

  The Orifice may be di∣lated.
• * 1.749

  The Big∣ness.
• * 1.750

  Its Irregu∣larities.
• * 1.751

  Herma∣phrodites.
• * 1.752

  Whether the Seed pass tho∣rough the Clitoris.
• * 1.753

  〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.754

  Whether the Geni∣tals of Men and Women dif∣fer in no∣thing but in Situati∣on.
• * 1.755

  The instru∣ments of Generation differ in each Sex, being com∣par'd.
• * 1.756

  Whether women may be chang'd into men▪
• * 1.757

  Observati∣ons.
• * 1.758

  No woman ever chang'd her Sex.
• * 1.759

  The womb in empty women.
• * 1.760

  In women with child.
• * 1.761

  The swel∣ling of the Breasts.
• * 1.762

  The strait∣ning of the Orifice.
• * 1.763

  The Situa∣tion of the Guts.
• * 1.764

  The Situa∣tion of the Stones.
• * 1.765

  The condi∣tion of the Neck.
• * 1.766

  The Relax∣ation of the Orifice.
• * 1.767

  Bigness of the Vessels.
• * 1.768

  The reason why the Vasa San∣guifera are so much dilated in women with child.
• * 1.769

  The Name.
• * 1.770

  〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.771

  What the Matter of it?
• * 1.772

  The opin•…•… of the An∣cients.
• * 1.773

  The Anci∣ents say it is made of the Iuice falling from the Brain and Spinal Marrow.
• * 1.774

  The opini∣on of Mo∣dern Au∣thors.
• * 1.775

  Opposed by some Eng∣lish Physi∣cians with∣out Reason.
• * 1.776

  Clement Niloe's o∣pinion er∣roneous.
• * 1.777

  Barbatus of Padua his opinion.
• * 1.778

  The true Matter of the Seed.
• * 1.779

  The Blood constitutes the first Mass of Seed.
• * 1.780

  That the A∣nimal Spi∣rits contri∣bute to the making of the Seed.
• * 1.781

  Salt the chief Co•…•…∣position in the Seed.
• * 1.782

  The Proof.
• * 1.783

  When the Seed is well made.
• * 1.784

  The reason of the Go∣norrhea Simplex.
• * 1.785

  How the Matters composing the Seed flow toge∣ther.
• * 1.786

  An Obj•…•…i∣on answer∣ed.
• * 1.787

  A Diffi∣culty.
• * 1.788

  Two parts of the Seed.
• * 1.789

  Thick and spirituous Parts mix∣ed and clot∣ted toge∣ther com∣pose the Mass of the Seed.
• * 1.790

  Where the efficient Principle is wanting, the Seed is unfruitful.
• * 1.791

  An Objecti∣on answe∣red.
• * 1.792

  Of the spi∣rituous Part.
• * 1.793

  The Opini∣on of Hip∣pocrates concerning the spiritu∣ous p•…•…t of the Seed.
• * 1.794

  Of Aristo∣tle.
• * 1.795

  What is the spirituous Part.
• * 1.796

  It is a Body.
• * 1.797

  It is pro∣duced out of a Body.
• * 1.798

  〈◊〉〈◊〉 apti∣tude.
• * 1.799

  The nature of the spi∣rituous Part.
• * 1.800

  Where the Idea of all the Parts is contained.
• * 1.801

  Ideas whence and what they are?
• * 1.802

  The Pro∣perties of the singular Particles not separa∣ted, meet in every Par∣ticle and display themselves in the for∣mation.
• * 1.803

  How t•…•…ss Spirit comes to the Stones?
• * 1.804

  How these Parts are generated out of the Seed, which the Parents wanted be∣fore Gene∣ration.
• * 1.805

  How Idea's imagined are imprin∣ted in the Seed.
• * 1.806

  Another Question to be answe∣red.
• * 1.807

  Whether Children can pr•…•…∣create.
• * 1.808

  Whence the likeness of Features
• * 1.809

  Of the wo∣mans Seed.
• * 1.810

  Whether Women have any Seed or 〈◊〉〈◊〉
• * 1.811

  That Wo∣men have Seed.
• * 1.812

  To these Reasons may be ad∣ded one more, taken from Maids who have been seised with the Furor Uterinus, and have dyed of the same. In whom (being opened) the Testicles of one, or both, have been found extraordinarily swell'd beyond their natural bigness; and Au∣thors report that some Pounds of the seminal Matter has been taken out of the Testicles of one who died of that Distem∣per. I have seen several who have had that Disease, of which two of them dyed by the force of the Malady. I desired them both to be opened, which was done. And in both, the Testicles were extreamly swell'd. In the first, the right Testicle as bigg as twice a mans Fist doubled, and being opened, there was near •…•… Pint of seminal Matter which ran and was squeezed out of it. In the other, the right Testicle in like manner was tumified and is big again as the former, and as black as Soot, stinking ex∣treamly, so that the Surgeon judged it a Gangreen. Salmon.
• * 1.813

  Womens Testicles were made for absulute Necessity.
• * 1.814

  What this Necessity is.
• * 1.815

  A Compa∣rison be∣tween the Womb and the Earth.
• * 1.816

  Why a Wo∣man does not con∣ceive every time she is lain with.
• * 1.817

  The Male Seed is that without which there can be no Genera∣tion.
• * 1.818

  Whether the Womans Seed be the cause of Formati∣on.
• * 1.819

  It follows not that the Womans Seed affords any Power to form the Birth.
• * 1.820

  Three other more weighty Argu∣ments.
• * 1.821

  The Male Seed does not proceed into Act unless there be a fit fer∣ment mix∣ed with it.
• * 1.822

  The An∣swer to the former Ar∣guments. To the first Argument.
• * 1.823

  Answer to the second Argument.
• * 1.824

  Answer to the third Argument.
• * 1.825

  Another 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.826

  An Answer there•…•…o.
• * 1.827

  Gen. 30.
• * 1.828

  The Opini∣on of Con∣sentinus and Deu∣singius confuted.
• * 1.829

  The Opini∣on of Swam∣merdam refuted.
• * 1.830

  Whether the Seed of women be a Matter ne∣cessary for Genera∣tion.
• * 1.831

  The Seed of the Wo∣man con∣tains in it self no forming power.
• * 1.832

  The Opini∣on of Hippocra∣tes.
• * 1.833

  The Opini∣on of Ves∣lingius.
• * 1.834

  Harvey's Opinion.
• * 1.835

  At what Age the Seed is ge∣nerated.
• * 1.836

  The growth of the Bo∣dy, whence.
• * 1.837

  Why Chil∣dren do not generate Seed.
• * 1.838

  〈◊〉〈◊〉 〈◊〉〈◊〉 〈◊〉〈◊〉 〈◊〉〈◊〉
• * 1.839

  Why gelded Animals grow fat.
• * 1.840

  An Obser∣vation in gelt Deer.
• * 1.841

  In gelt Persons or Beasts, the Spirits be∣come less sharp and subtle, and so less fit for animal Actions.
• * 1.842

  Why fat People less fit for Ve∣nery.
• * 1.843

  Why in a Plethory the Body be∣comes un∣weildy, weak, slothful, drowsy, sleepy, &c.
• * 1.844

  Concep∣tion.
• * 1.845

  Where it is made.
• * 1.846

  The Orifice of the Womb must be closed after Con∣ception.
• * 1.847

  Whether the Seed of both Sexes concurs.
• * 1.848

  Aristotle's Opinion a∣bout the menstruous Blood ex∣ploded.
• * 1.849

  The dete•…•…∣sion of the Seed.
• * 1.850

  The Col∣liquation of the Seed.
• * 1.851

  In the small Bubble only is the for∣ming of the Embryo.
• * 1.852

  Delineati∣on perfor∣med solely by the Seed.
• * 1.853

  Aristotle's Errour in affirming that all the parts are form'd not out of the Seed, but out of the Blood.
• * 1.854

  There can be no blood before the Organ that makes the blood is form'd.
• * 1.855

  It is a pe∣culiar and appropria∣ted 〈◊〉〈◊〉 that is requisite for the Embryo.
• * 1.856

  How the residue of the mans Seed enters the Bubble.
• * 1.857

  A twosold 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉〈◊〉 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.858

  The Blood bred in the Heart cleaves to the small Fibres of the Parts: First of the Heart, then of the Li∣ver, Lungs, Kidneys, Stomach, Muscles, &c.
• * 1.859

  The Heart acts, san∣guifies, and beats first of all.
• * 1.860

  How the Embryo is nourished.
• * 1.861

  Whether the Seed 〈◊〉〈◊〉 ou•…•… 〈◊〉〈◊〉 after 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.862

  Harvey's Opinion that the Seed flows out again.
• * 1.863

  Deusingi∣us his Opi∣nion.
• * 1.864

  Harvey deluded both him∣self and Deusingi∣us.
• * 1.865

  Harvey's Experi∣ments ex∣amin'd; first, that the Seed might fall out, and so no concep∣tion.
• * 1.866

  That Har∣vey's Ex∣periments prove not what he la∣bours to maintain.
• * 1.867

  The Seed, after Con∣ception, flows not out of the womb.
• * 1.868

  Th•…•… F•…•…tus is form'd of the Seed, and nou∣rish'd by the same.
• * 1.869

  The Birth is form'd in the Bubble.
• * 1.870

  The time of Forma∣tion.
• * 1.871

  First Hi∣story.
• * 1.872

  The Second History.
• * 1.873

  The Third.
• * 1.874

  The fourth.
• * 1.875

  The vani∣ty of some men who pretend to shew dry'd Abort∣ments, since scarce any thing can be discern'd before the fortieth day.
• * 1.876

  The Birth not form'd of the whole mass of Seed.
• * 1.877

  First Ob∣servation concerning the Bubbl•…•… of Riola∣nus.
• * 1.878

  The dis∣course con∣cerning the Bubble il∣lustrates the Proposi∣tion.
• * 1.879

  The second Observati∣on of Rio∣lanus.
• * 1.880

  The third Observati∣on.
• * 1.881

  The fourth Observati∣on.
• * 1.882

  The Colli∣quated Matter & Bubble proceeds both from the man and wo∣mans Seed.
• * 1.883

  In one Birth, but one only Bubble.
• * 1.884

  In what Order the Parts are form'd.
• * 1.885

  All the Parts form'd to∣gether.
• * 1.886

  An Objecti∣on here an∣swered.
• * 1.887

  Whether the Brain in the Embryo makes ani∣mal Spirits and per∣forms ani∣mal Acti∣ons.
• * 1.888

  Whether the Child in the Womb sleeps and wakes?
• * 1.889

  Another 〈◊〉〈◊〉. What is the Architecto∣nic Vertue?
• * 1.890

  What the Architecto∣nic Power i•…•…? vari∣ous Opini∣ons about it.
• * 1.891

  The opini∣on of the Platonists
• * 1.892

  Plotinus makes a di∣stinction between the Architecto∣nic Vertue and the Platonic Soul of the World.
• * 1.893

  Opinions concerning this Plastic Vertue.
• * 1.894

  Whence the Seed has its Soul.
• * 1.895

  An objecti∣on, that the forms of a∣nimated Being are indivisible, answered.
• * 1.896

  How Ari∣stotle and his Follow∣ers are to be under∣stood.
• * 1.897

  Whether that Soul which forms the Birth, be in the Man's Seed only, or in the Womans also.
• * 1.898

  The Opini∣on of Pari∣sanus.
• * 1.899

  •…•…hether 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Soul be Rational.
• * 1.900

  See also Bartholi∣nus's Ana∣tomic Con∣troversies upon the same Sub∣ject. The Soul not ex traduce.
• * 1.901

  That the Soul is not Rational.
• * 1.902

  The Ratio∣nal Soul not present when the parts were first deli∣neated.
• * 1.903

  This sa∣vours too much of Calvin's Doctrine, for the usual Doctrines of Original Sin are made the great foundation of that horrible Proposition concerning Reprobation, the consequences of which reproach God with In∣justice, they charge God foolishly, and deny his Goodness and his Wisdom in many Instances. For (as a learned Divine of the Church of England says) 1. If God decrees us to be born sinners, Then he makes us to be sinners; and then where is his Goodness? 2. If God damns any for that, he damns us for what we could not help, and for what himself did; and then where is his Iustice? 3. If God sentence us to that damnation, which he cannot in justice inflict; where is his Wisdom? 4. If God for the sin of Adam, brings upon us a necessity of sinning; where is our Liberty, and why is a Law imposed against sin? 5. If God does cast Infants into Hell for the sin of others, and yet did not condemn devils but for their own sin; where is his Love to Mankind? 6. If God cause the damna∣tion of so many millions of persons, who are no sinners on their own stock, and yet swears, that he desireth not the death of a sin∣ner; where then is his Mercy, and where his Truth? 7. If God has given us a Nature by derivation which is wholly corrupted; then how can it be that all which God made is Good? where then is his Providence and Power, and where the Glory of the Crea∣tion? But since God is all Goodness, and Iustice, and Wisdom, and Love, and that he governs all things and all men wisely and holily, and that he gives us a wise Law; and binds that Law on us by Promises and Threatnings; I think there is reason to assert these things to the Glory of the Divine Majesty. Thus far that excellent Person. Salmon.
• * 1.904

  The Corpo∣real Soul makes Con∣clusions, and acts af∣ter its own manner, but far inferi∣or to the Rational Soul.
• * 1.905

  The Mat∣ter illu∣strated from Holy Scripture.
• * 1.906

  An Answer to such as object that there can∣not be two Souls in Man.
• * 1.907

  The sensi∣tive Soul, what?
• * 1.908

  The Archi∣tectonic or Vegetative Soul sub∣sists in a Man with the Ratio∣nal Soul.
• * 1.909

  The Seat of the Vege∣table Soul, where?
• * 1.910

  Whether in some parts more than in others?
• * 1.911

  Willis not congruous in this mat∣ter to Rea∣son.
• * 1.912

  What the Vegetative Soul is?
• * 1.913

  This Soul is the vivi∣fic Spirit produced out of Cor∣poreal Matter.
• * 1.914

  The Opini∣on of Re∣gius.
• * 1.915

  Willis's Opinion.
• * 1.916

  Willis Re∣fated.
• * 1.917

  Willis his Explana∣tion of this Soul.
• * 1.918

  The Au∣thors Ani∣madversi∣ons.
• * 1.919

  The form of the Soul is different from the Matter it inhabits.
• * 1.920

  Willis his little dimi∣nutive Soul.
• * 1.921

  Willis his Absurdity.
• * 1.922

  The Affe∣ctions or Passions of the Soul.
• * 1.923

  Whether the Soul be nourish'd.
• * 1.924

  What this Life or Soul is, the Philoso∣phers igno∣rant.
• * 1.925

  The Ute∣rine Liver.
• * 1.926

  The Defi∣nition.
• * 1.927

  Its Origi∣nal.
• * 1.928

  When the Umbili∣cal Vessels begin to grow.
• * 1.929

  Harvey's Observati∣ons of the beginning of the Pla∣centa in 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Abortive.
• * 1.930

  Whether coagulated Blood?
• * 1.931

  Aquapen∣deat's O∣pinion.
• * 1.932

  The num∣ber of Placenta's.
• * 1.933

  Its Sub∣stance.
• * 1.934

  Its Colour.
• * 1.935

  Shape and bigness.
• * 1.936

  The Super∣ficies.
• * 1.937

  The Ingress of the Na∣vel.
• * 1.938

  Its Vessels.
• * 1.939

  Whether any Ana∣stomoses between the Vessels of the Womb and Cheese∣cake.
• * 1.940

  Whar∣ton's Opi∣nion.
• * 1.941

  Whether a∣ny Veins and Arte∣ries in the 〈◊〉〈◊〉?
• * 1.942

  Whether a∣ny Nerves in the Cheescake?
• * 1.943

  The Place of Adhesi∣on.
• * 1.944

  The Opini∣ons of the Ancients.
• * 1.945

  Opinion.
• * 1.946

  The Name deriv'd.
• * 1.947

  What the Cotyle∣dons are.
• * 1.948

  In what Creatures to be seen.
• * 1.949

  Cotyle∣dons in Brutes.
• * 1.950

  The use of the Placen∣ta in Wo∣men.
• * 1.951

  The Pla∣centa sup∣plies the Office of some other Bowels.
• * 1.952

  Why the Placenta sticks to the Womb.
• * 1.953

  An Objecti∣on.
• * 1.954

  The Blood flows from the Womb into the Uterine Liver.
• * 1.955

  A Watery Milky juice flows from the Womb to the Amni∣on.
• * 1.956

  Secundines.
• * 1.957

  The Chori∣on.
• * 1.958

  The Urina∣ry Mem∣brane.
• * 1.959

  Amnios.
• * 1.960

  The Caul on the Head.
• * 1.961

  The Con•…•…∣tion of the Mem∣branes in Twins.
• * 1.962

  The reason thereof, and of mon∣strous Births.
• * 1.963

  The Origi∣nal of these Mem∣branes.
• * 1.964

  Their true Original.
• * 1.965

  Alan∣toides.
• * 1.966

  What it is.
• * 1.967

  I•…•…s Origi∣•…•…al.
• * 1.968

  Situation.
• * 1.969

  Its vse.
• * 1.970

  Its Shape and Big∣ness.
• * 1.971

  Whether a∣ny Allan∣tois in Women?
• * 1.972

  A milkie Liquor within the Amnion.
• * 1.973

  The Filth sticking to the Birth.
• * 1.974

  What the Liquor in the Amni∣on 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.975

  〈◊〉〈◊〉 i•…•… b•…•… 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.976

  W•…•… S•…•….
• * 1.977

  Whether any Steam.
• * 1.978

  It is an Alimentary Humour.
• * 1.979

  What sort of Liquor it is.
• * 1.980

  Whether it proceed from 〈◊〉〈◊〉 〈◊〉〈◊〉
• * 1.981

  Hobo∣ken's Opinion.
• * 1.982

  A Difficul∣ty concern∣ing the milkie Ute∣rine Vessels and the Umbili∣cals.
• * 1.983

  Vanhorn observ'd 2 milkie Branches descend to∣wards the great Ar∣tery, &c.
• * 1.984

  Curveus hi•…•… mistake.
• * 1.985

  The passage of the Iuice.
• * 1.986

  Ent's Opi∣nion confu∣ted.
• * 1.987

  That this milky Iuice does not come from the Breasts.
• * 1.988

  The Opini∣on of Ves∣lingius touching the use of this Iuice.
• * 1.989

  The Am∣nios, Uri∣nary Mem∣brane and Chorion stick close one to ano∣ther.
• * 1.990

  The Opi•…•…i∣on of Rio∣lanus.
• * 1.991

  The urin•…•…∣ceous Hu∣mour sep•…•…∣rated from the Liquor of the Am∣nios in Brutes, where it is collected i•…•… the Alan∣tois.
• * 1.992

  What the Serous Hu∣mour is?
• * 1.993

  The mi∣stake of Deusingi∣us.
• * 1.994

  The mi∣stake of Riolanus.
• * 1.995

  The Name.
• * 1.996

  The Na•…•…el, what it is?
• * 1.997

  Its Situ•…•…∣tion.
• * 1.998

  Its Vessels.
• * 1.999

  The Umbi∣lical Vein.
• * 1.1000

  The Use.
• * 1.1001

  Its Valves.
• * 1.1002

  The Error of Cour∣•…•…eus.
• * 1.1003

  The Umbi∣lical Vein in Brutes.
• * 1.1004

  The Umbi∣lical Arte∣ries.
• * 1.1005

  These Ar∣teries hard to be found in the Em∣bryo for the first Months: yet form'd and grow toge∣ther.
• * 1.1006

  The Use.
• * 1.1007

  The moti∣on of the Blood through the Navel.
• * 1.1008

  No Anasto∣moses.
• * 1.1009

  No Union of the Um∣bilical Veins with the Arte∣ries.
• * 1.1010

  The Umbi∣lical Ves∣sels do not rise from the Uterines.
• * 1.1011

  Whether form'd be∣fore the Heart.
• * 1.1012

  How these Vessels p•…•… through the Mem∣branes.
• * 1.1013

  Dorsal Roots.
• * 1.1014

  The Ura∣chus, or U∣rinary Ves∣sel.
• * 1.1015

  It is pervi∣ous in large brute Ani∣mals.
• * 1.1016

  How it is observed in Mankind.
• * 1.1017

  Why it is not conspi∣cuous with∣out the Abdomen.
• * 1.1018

  Observa∣tion.
• * 1.1019

  The Urine flows from the Birth through the Urachus.
• * 1.1020

  Bartholin in an Er∣ror.
• * 1.1021

  The Opini∣on of Courveus.
• * 1.1022

  The Opini∣on of Mau∣rocorda∣tus.
• * 1.1023

  The Pipe of the Navel∣string.
• * 1.1024

  Some few Nerves.
• * 1.1025

  Knots like little Blad∣ders full of a whitish Iuice.
• * 1.1026

  Predictions from thence.
• * 1.1027

  The cutting of the Na∣vel-string.
• * 1.1028

  When cut to be left of a just Length.
• * 1.1029

  The Nou∣rishment of the Birth in the Womb.
• * 1.1030

  First Di∣gression.
• * 1.1031

  The Birth is nourish∣ed by the Mouth and Navel.
• * 1.1032

  Nourish∣•…•…nt by Apposition.
• * 1.1033

  Nutrition by the Mouth and Navel.
• * 1.1034

  The proof of Nou∣•…•…ishment by Apposition.
• * 1.1035

  Proof of Nourish∣ment at the Mouth.
• * 1.1036

  Observati∣on.
• * 1.1037

  An Argu∣ment from sucking.
• * 1.1038

  Confirm'd by Hippo∣crates.
• * 1.1039

  With what matter it was nou∣rished at Mouth.
• * 1.1040

  Taken in by degrees and swal∣lo•…•…ed, not forc'd.
• * 1.1041

  A Questi∣on.
• * 1.1042

  The proof of Nutri∣tion by the Umbilical Blood.
• * 1.1043

  It is carry∣ed in the same man∣ner in a Chicken.
• * 1.1044

  Riolanus deceived.
• * 1.1045

  Whether Tapping i•…•… a Dropsie, may not more safely be done in the Navel it self.
• * 1.1046

  In what the difference consists.
• * 1.1047

  Variety in the whole.
• * 1.1048

  Difference in the Head.
• * 1.1049

  Difference in the Breast.
• * 1.1050

  Difference in the low∣er Belly.
• * 1.1051

  Difference in the Ioynts.
• * 1.1052

  How the Birth is contained in the Womb.
• * 1.1053

  The Inver∣sion of the Birth.
• * 1.1054

  Change of Situation.
• * 1.1055

  The Opini∣on of Fer∣nelius.
• * 1.1056

  Digression. How long the Birth remains in the Womb.
• * 1.1057

  Children born with∣in the sixth Month.
• * 1.1058

  Children born in the fifth Month.
• * 1.1059

  They can∣not live that are born in the eighth Month, ac∣cording to Hippo∣crates.
• * 1.1060

  The reason of the va∣riety in the time of Delivery.
• * 1.1061

  Paulus Zachias.
• * 1.1062

  Learned Men too much de∣ceived by old Womens Tales.
• * 1.1063

  Error in Womens Recko∣nings.
• * 1.1064

  What hap∣pens near the time of Delivery.
• * 1.1065

  The cause of Expul∣sion.
• * 1.1066

  A natural Birth.
• * 1.1067

  Unnatural.
• * 1.1068

  Nature expels the Birth out of the Womb through the Uterine Sheath.
• * 1.1069

  Somethings admirable to be obser∣ved.
• * 1.1070

  The cause of the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of the 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.1071

  Not the narrowness of the place.
• * 1.1072

  Not the Corruption of Nou∣rishment.
• * 1.1073

  Not defect of Nou∣rishment.
• * 1.1074

  Whether a∣bundance of Excre∣ments.
• * 1.1075

  The true cause.
• * 1.1076

  A Simili∣tude.
• * 1.1077

  The 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of Re∣freshment and Respi∣ration is the cause of Calcitrati∣on.
• * 1.1078

  The Opi•…•…∣on of Har∣vey, and two Que∣stions.
• * 1.1079

  Harvey's other Que∣stion.
• * 1.1080

  That Birth may live a while with∣out Respi∣ration.
• * 1.1081

  An Obje∣ction.
• * 1.1082

  All in an Error, who write of Respirati∣on and cry∣ing in the Womb.
• * 1.1083

  The cause of 〈◊〉〈◊〉 and dead Births.