When the time of birth draws near and the good woman finds her travailing pains begin to come upon her, let her send for her midwife in time, better too soon than too late, and get those things ready which are necessary upon such occasions. When the midwife comes, let her first find whether the true time of the birth be come; for by not properly observing this, many a child hath been spoiled, and the life of the mother endangered; or at least given her double the pain needful. For unskilful midwives, not minding this, have given things to force down the child, and thereby disturb the course of her natural labour; whereas nature works best in her own time and way. I do confess, it is somewhat difficult to know the true time of a woman’s labour, they being troubled with pains long before their true labour comes, even some weeks before; the reason of which I conceive to be the heat of their reins; and this may be readily known by the swelling of their legs; and therefore, when women with child find their legs swell overmuch, they may be assured that their reins are too hot. For the cure whereof, let them cool the reins, before the time of their labour, with oil of poppies, and oil of violets, or water-lillies, by anointing the reins of their backs with them; for such women whose reins are very hot, have usually hard labours. But in this case, above all the remedies that I know, I prefer the decoction of them in water; and then having strained and clarified it with the white of an egg, boil it into a syrup with its equal weight of sugar, and keep it for use. There are two skins that compass the child in the womb; the one is the _amnios_, and this is the inner skin; the other is the _allantois_, and this is the skin that holds the urine of the child during the time that it abides in the womb. Both these skins, by the violent stirring of the child near the time of its birth, are broken; and then the urine and sweat of the child contained in them fall down to the neck of the womb; and this is that which the midwives call _the waters_, and is an infallible sign that the birth is very near; for the child is no more able to subsist in the womb after those skins are broken, than a naked man is in the cold air. These waters, if the child come presently after them, facilitate the labour, by making the passage slippery; and therefore the midwife must have a care that she force not the waters away, for nature knows better the true time of the birth than she, and usually retains the waters till that time. GENUINE RECIPES FOR CAUSING SPEEDY DELIVERY. A loadstone held in the travailing woman’s hand. Take wild tansy, bruise and apply it to the woman’s nostrils. Take also date stones, and beat them to powder, and let her take a drachm of them in white wine at a time.