The Works of Aristotle the Famous Philosopher: Containing his Complete Masterpiece and Family Physician; his Experienced Midwife, his Book of Problems and his Remarks on Physiognomy
Philosophy
The Works of Aristotle the Famous Philosopher: Containing his Complete Masterpiece and Family Physician; his Experienced Midwife, his Book of Problems and his Remarks on Physiognomy
Human beings; Mind and body; Reproduction
If the nature of the woman be too hot, and so unfit for conception, it
will appear by her having her terms very little, and the colour
inclining to yellowness; she is also very hasty, choleric and crafty;
her pulse beats very swift, and she is very desirous of copulation.
To know whether the fault is in the man or in the woman, sprinkle the
man's urine upon a lettuce leaf, and the woman's urine upon another, and
that which dries away first is unfruitful. Also take five wheaten corns
and seven beans, put them into an earthen pot, and let the party make
water therein; let this stand seven days, and if in that time they begin
to sprout, then the party is fruitful; but if they sprout not, then the
party is barren, whether it be the man or the woman; this is a certain
sign.
There are some that make this experiment of a woman's fruitfulness; take
myrrh, red storax and some odoriferous things, and make a perfume of
which let the woman receive into the neck of the womb through a funnel;
if the woman feels the smoke ascend through her body to the nose, then
she is fruitful; otherwise she is barren. Some also take garlic and
beer, and cause the woman to lie upon her back upon it, and if she feel
the scent thereof in her nose, it is a sign of her being fruitful.
Culpepper and others also give a great deal of credit to the following
experiment. Take a handful of barley, and steep half of it in the urine
of a man, and the other half in the urine of the woman, for the space of
twenty-four hours; then take it out, and put the man's by itself, and
the woman's by itself; set it in a flower-pot, or some other thing,
where let it dry; water the man's every morning with his own urine, and
the woman's with hers, and that which grows first is the most fruitful;
but if they grow not at all, they are both naturally barren.
_Cure_. If the barrenness proceeds from stoppage of the menstrua, let
the woman sweat, for that opens the parts; and the best way to sweat is
in a hot-house. Then let the womb be strengthened by drinking a draught
of white wine, wherein a handful of stinking arrach, first bruised, has
been boiled, for by a secret magnetic virtue, it strengthens the womb,
and by a sympathetic quality, removes any disease thereof. To which add
also a handful of vervain, which is very good to strengthen both the
womb and the head, which are commonly afflicted together by sympathy.
Having used these two or three days, if they come not down, take of
calamint, pennyroyal, thyme, betony, dittany, burnet, feverfew, mugwort,
sage, peony roots, juniper berries, half a handful of each, or as many
as can be got; let these be boiled in beer, and taken for her drink.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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