‘Behold, I saw upon earth men carrying milk in earthen vessels and making cheeses therefrom. Some was of the thick kind from which firm cheese is made, some of the thinner sort from which more porous [_tenuis_] cheese is made, and some was mixed with corruption [_tabes_] and of the sort from which bitter cheese is made. And I saw the likeness of a woman having a complete human form within her womb. And then, by a secret disposition of the Most High Craftsman, a fiery sphere having none of the lineaments of a human body possessed the heart of the form, and reached the brain and transfused itself through all the members.... And I saw that many circling eddies possessed the sphere and brought it earthward, but with ever renewed force it returned upward and with wailing asked, “I, wanderer that I am, where am I?” “In death’s shadow.” “And where go I?” “In the way of sinners.” “And what is my hope?” “That of all wanderers.”’[108] The vision is explained as follows: ‘Those whom thou seest carrying milk in earthen vessels are in the world, men and women alike, having in their bodies the seed of mankind from which are procreated the various kinds of human beings. Part is thickened because the seed in its strength is well and truly concocted, and this produces forceful men to whom are allotted gifts both spiritual and carnal.... And some had cheeses less firmly curdled, for they in their feebleness have seed imperfectly tempered, and they raise offspring mostly stupid, feeble, and useless.... And some was mixed with corruption ... for the seed in that brew cannot be rightly raised, it is invalid and makes misshapen men who are bitter, distressed, and oppressed of heart, so that they may not lift their gaze to higher things....[109] And often in forgetfulness of God and by the mocking devil, a _mistio_ is made of the man and of the woman and the thing born therefrom is deformed, for parents who have sinned against me return to me crucified in their children.’[110] (Compare Constantine _De humana natura_, sections ‘De perfectione’ and ‘De impeditione’.) Hildegard thus supposes that the qualities and form of a child are inherited from its parents, but that two factors, the formless soul from the Almighty and the corrupt fluid instilled by the devil, also contribute to the character of offspring. This is the usual mediaeval view and is broadly portrayed in the figure. The strange conception of the body being formed from the seed, as cheese is precipitated and curdled from milk, is doubtless derived from a passage in the Book of Job: ‘Hast thou not poured me out as milk, And curdled me like cheese? Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, And knit me together with bones and sinews’ (Job x. 10, 11).[111]