Chapter I: Front Matter

ARISTOTLE’S WORKS.

ARISTOTLE’S MASTER-PIECE.
]

The Works of
ARISTOTLE
THE FAMOUS PHILOSOPHER

London
PUBLISHED BY THE BOOKSELLERS

ARISTOTLE’S WORKS:
CONTAINING
THE MASTER-PIECE,
DIRECTIONS FOR MIDWIVES,
AND
COUNSEL AND ADVICE
TO
CHILD-BEARING WOMEN.
WITH
VARIOUS USEFUL REMEDIES.

LONDON:
PUBLISHED FOR THE BOOKSELLERS.

ADVERTISEMENT.

At the present time, when so many of the female sex, in the hour of Nature’s extremity, depend solely upon the skill and practical experience of the Midwife, we regard every attempt to assist the female accoucheur in her difficult, and sometimes dangerous operation, as a blessing conferred upon society.

This treatise enters fully into every department of Midwifery; and lays down excellent rules, and proposes valuable suggestions for the guidance of the female operator, which, if acted upon, will not only redound to the credit of the practitioner, but will be of immense benefit to those operated upon. Another valuable feature of this work is, that it contains important directions for the guidance of child-bearing women during the time of their pregnancy: how they should conduct themselves with regard to regimen, medical treatment, and other matters, each month, until the time of their delivery. In short, we venture to assert that if the counsel and advice given in the Experienced Midwife be strictly adhered to by all parties interested therein, the travail in child-birth, instead of being many times difficult and dangerous, will be safe, speedy, and comparatively easy.

CONTENTS.

THE MASTER-PIECE.
PAGE
The Matrimonial State considered 9
CHAP. I. —False Steps in Matrimonial Alliances 10
„ II. —The original appointment of Marriage 14
„ III. —The happy state of Matrimony 20
„ IV. —Precautionary Hints 29
„ V. —The Vagaries of Nature in the birth of Monsters 34
„ VI. —Of the Womb in general 41
„ VII. —Of the retention of the Terms 43
„ VIII. —Of the overflowing of the Terms 49
„ IX. —Of the Weeping of the Womb 53
„ X. —Of the false Terms, or Whites 54
„ XI. —Of the Suffocation of the Mother 57
„ XII. —Falling of the Womb 62
„ XIII. —Of the Inflammation of the Womb 64
„ XIV. —Of the Schirrosity or Hardness of the Womb 66
„ XV. —Of the Dropsy of the Womb 68
„ XVI. —Of Moles and False Conceptions 70
„ XVII. —Of Conception, and how a woman may know whether she
has conceived or not, and whether male or female 74
„ XVIII. —Of untimely Births 76
„ XIX. —Directions for Pregnant Women 77
„ XX. —Directions to be observed by women at the time of
their falling in labour 80
„ XXI. —In cases of extremity, what ought to be done 82

THE MIDWIFE.

CHAPTER I.
SECT. I. Of the Womb 85
SECT. II. Of the Difference between Ancient and Modern Physicians,
touching the Woman’s contributing Seed for the formation of the
Child 90

CHAPTER II. SECT. I. What Conception is 93 SECT. II. How a Woman ought to order herself after Conception ib.

CHAPTER III. SECT. I. Of the Parts proper to a Child in the Womb. How it is formed there, and the Manner of its Situation therein 104 Of the Secundine, or After-Birth 107 SECT. II. Of the Formation of the Child in the Womb 109 SECT. III. Of the manner of the Child’s lying in the Womb 110

CHAPTER IV.
A Guide for Women in Travail, shewing what is to be done when they
Fall in Labour, in order to their Delivery 113
SECT. I. The Signs of the true Time of Woman’s Labour 114
SECT. II. How a Woman ought to be ordered when the time of her
Labour is come 116

CHAPTER V. SECT. I. What Natural Labour is 123 SECT. II. Of the Cutting of the Child’s Navel-String 128 SECT. III. How to bring away the After-burden 130 SECT. IV. Of Laborious and Difficult Labours, and how the Midwife is to proceed therein 131 SECT. V. Of Women Labouring with a dead Child 138