But, besides all these parts which compose the womb, it hath yet four ligaments, whose office is to keep it firm in its place, and prevent its constant agitation, by the continual motion of the intestines which surround it; two of which are above, and two below. Those above are called the broad ligaments, because of their broad and membranous figure, and are nothing else but the production of the peritoneum, which growing out of the side of the loins, towards the reins, come to be inserted in the sides of the bottom of the womb, to hinder the body from bearing too much on the neck, and so from suffering a precipitation, as will sometimes happen when the ligaments are too much relaxed; and do also contain the testicles, and as well safely conduct the different vessels as the ejaculatories to the womb. The lowermost are called round ligaments, taking their original from the side of the womb near the horn, from whence they pass the groin, together with the production of the peritoneum, which accompanies them through the rings and holes of the oblique and transverse muscles of the belly, by which they divide themselves into many little branches, resembling the foot of a goose, of which are some inserted into the os pubis, and the rest are lost and confounded with the membranes that cover the upper and interior parts of the thigh; and it is that which causeth the numbness which pregnant women feel in their thighs. These two ligaments are long, round, and nervous, and pretty big in their beginning, near the matrix, hollow in their rise, and all along to the os pubis, where they are a little smaller, and become flat, the better to be inserted in the manner aforesaid. It is by their means the womb is hindered from rising too high. Now, although the womb is held in its natural situation by these four ligaments, it has liberty enough to extend itself when pregnant, because they are very loose, and so easily yield to its distension. But besides these ligaments, which keep the womb as it were in a poise, yet it is fastened, for greater security, by its neck, both to the bladder and rectum, between which it is situated.—Whence it comes to pass, that if at any time the womb be inflamed, it communicates the inflammation to the neighbouring parts. Its use or proper action, in the work of generation, is to receive and retain the seed, and deduce from its power and action, by its heat for the generation of the infant; and is therefore absolutely necessary for the conservation of the species. It also seems by accident to receive and expel the impurities of the whole body, as when women have abundance of whites; and to purge away, from time to time, the superfluity of the blood, as when a woman is not pregnant. SECT. II.—_Of the Difference between the Ancient and Modern Physicians, touching the Woman’s contributing Seed to the Formation of the Child._