Chapter II (1)

OF DISEASES RELATING TO WOMEN’S MONTHLY TERMS.

SECT. I. _Of Women’s Monthly Terms in General._

That divine Providence, which with a wisdom peculiar to itself has appointed woman to conceive, and to bear and bring forth children, has provided for the nourishment of children during their recess in the womb of their mother, by that redundancy of the blood which is natural to all women; and which, flowing out at certain periods of time (when they are not pregnant), are from thence called _terms_ and _menses_, from their monthly flux of excrementitious and unprofitable blood. Now, that the matter flowing forth is excrementitious, is to be understood only with respect to the redundancy and overplus thereof, being an excrement only with respect to its quality; for as to its quality, it is as pure and incorrupt as any blood in the veins; and this appears from the final cause of it, which is the propagation and conservation of mankind; and also, from the generation of it, being the superfluity of the last aliment of the fleshy parts. If any ask, if the menses be not of a hurtful quality, how can they cause such venomous effects? If they fall upon trees and herbs, they make one barren and mortify the other. I answer, this malignity is contracted in the womb; for the woman wanting native heat to digest the superfluity, sends it to the matrix, where seating itself till the mouth of the womb be dilated, it becomes corrupt and mortified; which may easily be, considering the heat and moistness of the place; and so this blood being out of its proper vessels, offends in quality.

SECT. II. _Of Terms coming out of order, either before or after the
usual Time._

Having, in the former part of this work, treated of the suppression and overflow of the monthly terms, I shall content myself with referring the reader thereto, and proceed to speak of their coming out of order, either before or after the usual time.

Both these proceed from an ill constitution of body. Every thing is beautiful in its order, in nature, as well as in mortality; and if the order of nature be broke it shows the body to be out of order. Of each of these effects briefly.

When the monthly terms come before their time, showing a depraved excretion, and flowing sometimes twice a month, the cause is in the blood, which stirs up the expulsive faculty of the womb, or else in the whole body, and is frequently occasioned by the person’s diet, which increases the blood too much, making it too sharp or too hot. If the retentive faculty of the womb be weak, and the expulsive faculty strong, and of a quick sense, it brings them forth the sooner. Sometimes they flow sooner by reason of a fall, stroke, or some violent passion, which the parties themselves can best relate. If it be from heat, thin and sharp humours, it is known by the distemper of the whole body. The looseness of the vessels, and weakness of the retentive faculty, is known from a moist and loose habit of the body. It is more troublesome than dangerous. If it proceed from a sharp blood, let her temper it by a good diet and medicines. To which purpose, let her use baths of iron water, that correct the distemper of the bowels, and then evacuate. If it proceed from the retentive faculty, and looseness of the vessels, it is to be corrected with gentle astringents.

As to the menses flowing after the usual time, the causes are, thickness of the blood and the smallness of its quantity, with the straitness of the passage, and the weakness of the expulsive faculties. Either of these singly may stop the menses, but if they all concur, they render the distemper worse. If the blood abounds not in such a quantity as may stir up nature to expel it, its purging must necessarily be deferred till there be enough. And if the blood be thick, the passage stopped, and the expulsive faculty weak, the menses must needs be out of order, and the purging of them retarded.

For the cure of this, if the quantity of blood be small, let her use a larger diet, and very little exercise. If the blood be thick and foul, let it be made thin, and the humours mixed therewith be evacuated. It is good to purge after the menses have done flowing, and to use calamint; and indeed the oftener she purges the better. She may also use fumes and pessaries, apply cupping-glasses without scarification to the inside of the thighs, and rub the legs and scarify the ancles, and hold the feet in warm water four or five days before the menses come down. Let her also anoint the bottom part of her abdomen with things proper to provoke the terms.

_Remedies for Disorders in Women’s Paps._

Make a cataplasm of bean meal and salad oil, and lay it to the place affected. Or anoint with the juice of papilaris. This must be done when the paps are very sore.

If the paps be hard and swelled, take a handful of rue, colewort roots, horehound and mint; if you cannot get all these conveniently, any two will do; pound the handful in honey, and apply it once every day till healed.

If the nipples be stiff and sore, anoint twice a day with Florence oil till healed.

If the paps be flappy and hanging, bruise a little hemlock, and apply it to the breast for three days; but let it not stand above seven hours. Or, which is safer, rusæ juice well boiled, with a little smapios added thereto, and anoint.

If the paps be hard and dead, make a plate of lead pretty thin, to answer the breasts; let this stand nine hours each day, for three days. Or sassafras bruised, and used in like manner.

_Receipt for Procuring Milk._

Drink arpleni, drawn as tea, for twenty-one days. Or eat aniseeds. Also the juice of arbor vitæ, a glassful once a day for eleven days, is very good, for it quickens the memory, strengthens the body, and causeth milk to flow in abundance.

_Directions for Drawing of Blood._

Drawing of blood was at first invented for good and salutary purposes, although often abused and misapplied. To bleed in the left arm removes long-continued pains and head-aches. It is also good for those who have got falls and bruises.

Bleeding is good for many disorders, and generally proves a cure, except in some very extraordinary cases; and in these cases bleeding is hurtful.

If a woman be pregnant, to draw a little blood will give her ease, good health and a lusty child.

Bleeding is a most certain cure for no less than twenty-one disorders, without any outward or inward applications; and for many more, with application of drugs, herbs and flowers.

When the moon is on the increase, you may let blood at any time, day or night; but when she is on the decline, you must bleed only in the morning.

Bleeding may be performed from the month of March to November. No bleeding in December, January, or February, unless an occasion require it. The months of March, April, and November, are the three chief months of the year for bleeding in; but it may be performed with safety from the 9th of March to the 19th of November.

To prevent the dangers that may arise from the unskilful drawing of blood, let none open a vein but a person of experience and practice. There are three sorts of people you must not let draw blood: first, ignorant and inexperienced pretenders. Secondly, those who have bad sight and trembling hands, whether skilled or unskilled. For when the hand trembles, the lancet is apt to startle from the vein, and the flesh be thereby damaged, which may hurt, canker, and very much torment the patient. Thirdly, let no woman bleed you, but such as has gone through a course of midwifery at college; for those who are unskilful may cut an artery, to the great damage of the patient. Besides, what is still worse, those pretended bleeders, who take it up at their own hand, generally keep unedged and rusty lancets, which will prove hurtful even in a skilful hand. Accordingly, you ought to be cautious in choosing your physician: a man of learning knows what vein to open for each disorder; he knows how much blood to take as soon as he sees the patient; and he can give you suitable advice concerning your disorder.

FORM OF A MALE CHILD IN THE WOMB.

EXPLANATION.

A The uterus, as stretched to near its full extent, containing the
_fœtus_ entangled in the _funis_.—B. B. The superior part of the
_ossa ilium_.—C. C. The _actebula_. D. D. The remaining posterior
parts of the _ossa ischium_.—E. The _coccyx_.—F. The inferior part
of the _rectum_.—G. G. The _vagina_ stretched on each side.—H. The
_os uteri_, stretching to its full extent.—I. I. Part of the _vesica
urinaria_.—K. K. The _placenta_ at the superior and posterior parts
of the _uterus_.—L. The _Membranes_.—M. The _funis umbilicalis_.
]

ARISTOTLE’S BOOK OF PROBLEMS,
WITH OTHER
ASTRONOMERS, ASTROLOGERS, AND PHYSICIANS,
CONCERNING
THE STATE OF MAN’S BODY.

Q. Among all living creatures, why hath man only his countenance lifted up towards heaven? A. 1. From the will of the Creator. But, although this answer be true, yet it seemeth not to be of force, because that so all questions might be easily resolved. Therefore, 2. I answer, that, for the most part, every workman doth make his first work worse, and then his second better; so God creating all other animals before man gave them their face looking down to the earth; and then secondly, he created man, unto whom he gave an upright shape, lifted unto heaven, because it is drawn from divinity, and is derived from the goodness of God, who maketh all his works both perfect and good. 3. Man only among all living creatures, is ordained to the kingdom of heaven and therefore hath his face elevated and lifted up to heaven, because that, despising earthly and worldly things, he ought often to contemplate on heavenly things. 4. That the reasonable man is like unto angels, and finally ordained towards God; and therefore he hath a figure looking upward. 5. Man is a microcosm, that is, a little world, and therefore he doth command all other living creatures, and they obey him. 6. Naturally there is unto every thing and every work that form and figure given which is fit and proper for its motion; as unto the heavens roundness, to the fire a pyramidical form, that is, broad beneath and sharp towards the top, which form is most apt to ascend; and so man has his face towards heaven, to behold the wonders of God’s works.

Q. Why are the heads of men hairy? A. The hair is the ornament of the head, and the brain is purged of gross humours by the growing of the hair, from the highest to the lowest, which pass through the pores of the exterior flesh, become dry, and converted into hair. This appears to be the case from the circumstance that in all man’s body there is nothing drier than the hair, for it is drier than the bones; and it is well known that some beasts are nourished with bones, as dogs, but they cannot digest feathers or hair, but void them undigested, being too hot for nourishment. 2. It is answered, that the brain is purged in three different ways; of superfluous watery humours by the eyes, of choler by the nose, and of phlegm by the hair; which is the opinion of the best physicians.

Q. Why have men longer hair on their heads than any other living creatures? A. Arist. de. Generat. Anim. says, that men have the moistest brains of all living creatures, from which the seed proceedeth which is converted into the long hair of the head. 2. The humours of men are fat, and do not become dry easily; and therefore the hair groweth long on them. In beasts, the humours easily dry, and therefore the hair groweth not so long.

Q. Why doth the hair take deeper root in man’s skin than in that of any other living creatures? A. Because it has greater store of nourishment in man, and therefore grows more in the inward parts of man. And this is the reason why in other creatures the hair doth alter and change with the skin, and not in man, unless by a scar or wound.

Q. Why have women longer hair than men? A. 1. Because women are moister and more phlegmatic than men; and therefore there is more matter for hair in them, and, by consequence, the length also of their hair. And, furthermore, this matter is more increased in women than men from their interior parts, and especially in the time of their monthly terms, because the matter doth then ascend, whereby the humour which breedeth the hair doth increase. 2. Because women want beards; so the matter of the beard doth go into that of the hair.

Q. Why have some women soft hair and some hard? A. 1. The hair hath proportion with the skin; of which some is hard, some thick, some subtle and soft, and some gross; therefore the hair which grows out of a thick gross skin, is thick and gross; that which groweth out of a subtle and fine skin is fine and soft; when the pores are open, then cometh forth much humour, and therefore hard hair is engendered; and when the pores are strait, then there doth grow soft and fine hair. This doth evidently appear in men, because women have softer hair than they; for in women the pores are shut and strait, by reason of their coldness. 2. Because for the most part, choleric men have harder and thicker hair than others, by reason of their heat, and because their pores are always open, and therefore they have beards sooner than others. For this reason also, those beasts which have hard hair are the boldest, because such have proceeded from heat and choler, examples of which we have in the bear and boar; and contrariwise, those beasts that have soft hair are fearful, because they are cold, as the hare and the hart. 3. From the climate where a man is born; because in hot regions hard and gross hair is engendered, as appears in the Ethiopians, and the contrary is the case in cold countries towards the north.

Q. Why have some men curled hair and some smooth? A. From the superior degree of heat in some men, which makes the hair curl and grow upward: this is proved by a man’s having smooth hair when he goes into a hot bath, and it afterwards becomes curled. Therefore, keepers of baths have often curled hair, as also Ethiopians and choleric men. But the cause of the smoothness is the abundance of moist humours.

Q. Why have not women beards? A. Because they want heat; which is the case with some effeminate men, who are beardless from the same cause, and have complexions like women.

Q. Why doth the hair grow on those who are hanged? A. Because their bodies are exposed to the sun, which by its heat doth dissolve all moisture into the fume or vapour of which the hair doth grow.

Q. Why is the hair of the beard thicker and grosser than elsewhere; and the more men are shaven, the harder and thicker it groweth? A. Because by so much as the humours or vapours of any liquid are dissolved and taken away, so much the more doth the humour remaining draw to the same; and therefore, the more the hair is shaven, the thicker the humours gather which engenders the hair, and cause it to wax hard.

Q. Why are women smoother and fairer than men? A. Because in women much of the humidity and superfluity, which are the matter and cause of the hair of the body, is expelled with their monthly terms; which superfluity, remaining in men, through vapours passes into hair.

Q. Why doth man, above all other creatures, wax hoary and gray? A. Because man hath the hottest heart of all living creatures; and, therefore, nature being most wise, lest a man should be suffocated through the heat of his heart, hath placed the heart which is most hot, under the brain, which is most cold; to the end that the heat of the heart may be tempered by the coldness of the brain; and contrariwise, that the coldness of the brain may be qualified by the heat of the heart; and thereby there might be a temperature in both. A proof of this is, that of all living creatures man hath the worst breath when he comes to full age. Furthermore, man doth consume nearly half his time in sleep, which doth proceed from the great excess of coldness and moisture in the brain, and from his wanting natural heat to digest and consume that moisture, which heat he hath in his youth, and therefore in that age it is not gray, but in old age when heat faileth; because then the vapours ascending from the stomach remain undigested and unconsumed for want of natural heat, and thus putrefy, of which putrefaction of humours the whiteness doth follow which is called grayness or hoariness. Whereby it doth appear, that hoariness is nothing else but a whiteness of hair, caused by a putrefaction of the humours about the roots of the hair, through the want of natural heat in old age. Sometimes all grayness is caused by the naughtiness of the complexion, which may happen in youth; sometimes through over great fear and care, as appeareth in merchants, sailors, and thieves.

Q. Why doth red hair grow white sooner than hair of any other colour? A. Because redness is an infirmity of the hair; for it is engendered of a weak and infirm matter, that is of matter corrupted with the flowers of the woman; and therefore it waxes white sooner than any other.

Q. Why do wolves grow grisly? A. To understand this question, note the difference between grayness and grisliness: grayness is caused through defect of natural heat, but grisliness through devouring and heat. The wolf being a devouring animal beast, he eateth gluttonously without chewing, and enough at once for three days; in consequence of which, gross vapours are engendered in the wolfs body, which cause grisliness. Grayness and grisliness have this difference; grayness is only in the head, but grisliness all over the body.

Q. Why do horses grow grisly and gray? A. Because they are for the most part in the sun, and heat naturally causes putrefaction; therefore the matter of air doth putrefy, and in consequence they are quickly peeled.

Q. Why are not women bald? A. Because they are cold and moist, which are the causes that the hair remaineth; for moistness doth give nutriment to the hair, and coldness doth bind the pores.

Q. Why are not blind men naturally bald? A. Because the eye hath moisture in it, and that moisture which should pass through by the substance of the eyes doth become a sufficient nutriment for the hair, and therefore they are seldom bald.

Q. Why doth the hair stand on end when men are afraid? A. Because in time of fear the heat doth go from the outward parts of the body into the inward to help the heart, and so the pores in which the hair is fastened are shut up; after which stopping and shutting up of the pores, the standing up of the hair doth follow.

_Of the Head._

Q. Why is a man’s head round? A. Because it contains in it the moistest parts of the living creature; and also that the brain may be defended thereby, as with a shield.

Q. Why is the head not absolutely long, but somewhat round? A. To the end that the three creeks and cells of the brain might the better be distinguished: that is, the fancy in the forehead, the discoursing or reasonable part in the middle, and memory in the hindermost part.

Q. Why doth a man lift up his head towards the heavens when he doth imagine? A. Because the imagination is the fore part of the head or brain, and therefore it lifteth up itself, that the creeks or cells of the imagination may be opened, and that the spirits which help the imagination, and are fit for that purpose, having their concourse thither, may help the imagination.

Q. Why doth a man, when he museth or thinketh of things past, look towards the earth? A. Because the cell or creek which is behind, is the creek or chamber of the memory; and therefore that looketh towards the heavens when the head is bowed down, and so that cell is open, to the end that the spirits which perfect the memory should enter in.

Q. Why is not the head fleshy, like other parts of the body? A. Because the head would be too heavy, and would not stand steadily. Also, a head loaded with flesh betokens an evil complexion.

Q. Why is the head subject to aches and griefs? A. By reason that evil humours, which proceed from the stomach, ascend up to the head and disturb the brain, and so cause pain in the head: sometimes it proceeds from overmuch filling the stomach, because two great sinews pass from the brain to the mouth of the stomach, and therefore these two parts do always suffer grief together.

Q. Why have women the headache oftener than man? A. By reason of their monthly terms, which men are not troubled with; and by which a moist, unclean, and venomous fume is produced, that seeks passage upwards, and so causes the headache.

Q. Why is the brain white? A. 1. Because it is cold, and coldness is the mother of white. 2. Because it may receive the similitude and likeness of all colours, which the white colour can best do, because it is most simple.

Q. Why are all the senses in the head? A. Because the brain is there, on which all the senses depend, and are directed by it; and consequently, it maketh all the spirits to feel, and governeth all the membranes.

Q. Why cannot a person escape death if the brain or heart be hurt? A. Because the brain and heart are the two principal parts which concern life; and, therefore, if they be hurt, there is no remedy left for cure.

Q. Why is the brain moist? A. Because it may easily receive an impression, which moisture can best do, as it appeareth in wax, which doth easily receive the print of the seal when soft.

Q. Why is the brain cold? A. 1. Because that by this coldness it may clear the understanding of man, and make it subtle. 2. That by the coldness of the brain the heat of the heart may be tempered.

_Of the Eyes._

Q. Why have you one nose and two eyes? A. Because light is more necessary for us than smelling; and therefore it doth proceed from the goodness of Nature, that if we receive any hurt or loss of one eye, the other may remain.

Q. Why have children great eyes in their youth, which become small as they grow up? A. It proceeds from the want of fire, and from the assemblage and meeting together of the light and humour; the eyes being lightened by the sun, which doth lighten the easy humour thereof and purge them; and, in the absence of the sun, those humours become dark and black, and the sight not so good.

Q. Why does the blueish gray eye see badly in the day-time, and well in the night? A. Because grayness is light and shining of itself, and the spirits with which we see are weakened in the day-time and strengthened in the night.

Q. Why are men’s eyes of divers colours? A. By reason of diversity of humours. The eye hath four coverings and three humours. The first covering is called consolidative, which is the outermost, strong and fat. The second is called a horny skin or covering, of the likeness of a horn; which is a clear covering. The third, uvea, of the likeness of a black grape. The fourth is called a cobweb. The first humour is called _abungines_, from its likeness unto the white of an egg. The second _glarial_; that is, clear, like unto crystalline. The third, _vitreous_; that is, clear as glass. And the diversity of humours causeth the diversity of the eye.

Q. Why are men who have but one eye good archers? and why do good archers commonly shut one eye? And why do such as behold the stars look through a trunk with one eye? A. This matter is handled in the perspective arts; and the reason is, as it doth appear in _The Book of Causes_, because that every virtue and strength united and knit together is stronger than when dispersed and scattered. Therefore all the force of seeing dispersed in two eyes, the one being shut, is gathered into the other; and so the light is fortified in him; and by consequence he doth see better and more certainly with one eye being shut, than when both are open.

Q. Why do those that drink and laugh much shed most tears? A. Because that while they drink and laugh without measure, the air which is drawn in doth not pass out through the wind-pipe, and so with force is directed and sent to the eyes, and by their pores passing out, doth expel the humours of the eyes; which humour being so expelled brings tears.

Q. Why do such as weep much, urine but little? A. Because the radical humidity of a tear and of urine are of one and the same nature; and therefore, where weeping doth increase, urine diminishes. And that they are of one nature is plain to the taste, because they are both salt.

Q. Why do some that have clear eyes see nothing? A. By reason of the oppilation and naughtiness of the sinews with which we see; for the temples being destroyed, the strength of the light cannot be carried from the brain to the eye.

Q. Why is the eye clear and smooth like glass? A. 1. Because the things which may be seen are better beaten back from a smooth thing than otherwise, that thereby the sight should strengthen. 2. Because the eye is moist above all parts of the body, and of a waterish nature; and as the water is clear and smooth, so likewise is the eye.

Q. Why do men and beasts who have their eyes deep in their head see best far off? A. Because the force and power by which we see is not dispersed in them, and doth go directly to the thing which is seen. Thus, when a man doth stand in a deep ditch or well, he doth see in the day-time the stars of the firmament; because then the power of the sight and of the beams are not scattered.

Q. Wherefore do those men who have eyes far out in their head not see far distant? A. Because the beams of the sight which pass from the eye are scattered on every side, and go not directly unto the thing that is seen, and therefore the sight is weakened.

Q. Why are many beasts born blind, as lions’ whelps and dogs’ whelps? A. Because such beasts are not yet of perfect ripeness and maturity, and the course of nutriment doth not work in them. Thus, the swallow, whose eyes, if they were taken out when they are young in their nest, would grow in again. And this is the case in many beasts who are brought forth before their time, as it were dead, as bears’ whelps.

Q. Why do the eyes of a woman that hath her flowers stain new glass? And why doth a basilisk kill a man with his sight? A. 1. When the flowers do run from a woman, then a most venomous air is distilled from them, which doth ascend into the woman’s head; and she having pain in her head, doth wrap it up with a cloth or handkerchief; and, because the eyes are full of insensible holes, which are called pores, there the air seeketh a passage and infects the eyes, which are full of blood. The eyes also appear dropping and full of tears, by reason of the evil vapour that is in them; and these vapours are incorporated and multiplied till they come to the glass before them; and by reason that such a glass is round, clear, and smooth, it doth easily receive that which is unclean. 2. The basilisk is a very venomous and infectious animal, and there pass from his eyes venomous vapours, which are multiplied upon the thing which is seen by him, and even unto the eye of man; the which venomous vapours or humours entering into the body do infect him, and so in the end the man dieth. And this is also the reason why the basilisk, looking upon a shield perfectly well made with fast clammy pitch, or any hard smooth thing, doth kill itself, because the humours are beaten back from the hard smooth thing unto the basilisk, by which beating back he is killed.

Q. Why is the sparkling in cats’ eyes and wolves’ eyes seen in the dark and not in the light? A. Because that the greater light doth darken the lesser; and therefore in a greater light the sparkling cannot be seen; but the greater the darkness, the easier it is seen, and is made more strong and shining.

Q. Why is the sight retreated and refreshed by a green colour? A. Because green doth merely move the sight, and therefore doth comfort it; but this doth not black nor white colours, because these colours do vehemently stir and alter the organ and instrument of the sight, and therefore make the greater violence; and by how much the more violent the thing is which is felt or seen, the more it doth destroy and weaken the sense.

_Of the Nose._

Q. Why doth the nose stand out farther than any other part of the body? A. 1. Because the nose is as it were, the sink of the brain, by which the phlegm of the brain is purged; and therefore it doth stand forth, lest the other parts should be defiled. 2. Because the nose is the beauty of the face, and doth smell.

Q. Why hath man the worst smell of all creatures? A. Because man hath most brains of all creatures; and, therefore, by exceeding coldness and moisture, the brain wanteth a good disposition, and by consequence, the smelling instrument is not good; yea, some men have no smell.

Q. Why have vultures and comorants a keen smell? A. Because they have a very dry brain; and therefore, the air carrying the smell is not hindered by the humidity of the brain, but doth presently touch its instrument; and, therefore, vultures, tigers, and other ravenous beasts, have been known to come five hundred miles after dead bodies.

Q. Why did nature make the nostrils? A. 1. Because, the mouth being shut, we draw breath in by the nostrils to refresh the heart. 2. Because the air which proceedeth from the mouth doth savour badly, because of the vapours which rise from the stomach, but that which we breathe from the nose is not noisome. 3. Because the phlegm which doth proceed from the brain is purged by them.

Q. Why do men sneeze? A. That the expulsive virtue and power of the sight should thereby be purged, and the brain also, from superfluities: because, as the lungs are purged by coughing, so is the sight and brain by sneezing; and therefore physicians give sneezing medicaments to purge the brain; and thus it is, such sick persons that cannot sneeze die quickly, because it is a sign their brain is wholly stuffed with evil humours, which cannot be purged.

Q. Why do not such as are apoplectic sneeze; that is, such as are subject easily to bleed? A. Because the passages or ventricles of the brain are stopped; and if they could sneeze, their apoplexy would be loosed.

Q. Why does the heat of the sun provoke sneezing, and not the heat of the fire? A. Because the heat of the sun doth dissolve, but not consume, and therefore the vapour dissolved is expelled by sneezing; but the heat of the fire doth dissolve and consume, and therefore doth rather hinder sneezing than provoke it.

_Of the Ears_

Q. Why do beasts move their ears, and not men? A. Because there is a certain muscle near the under-jaw which doth cause motion in the ear; and therefore that muscle being extended and stretched, men do not move their ears, as it hath been seen in divers men; but all beasts do use that muscle or fleshy sinew, and therefore do move their ears.

Q. Why is rain prognosticated by the pricking up of asses’ ears? A. Because the ass is of a melancholic constitution, and the approach of rain produceth that effect upon such a constitution. In the time of rain all beasts prick up their ears, but the ass before it comes.

Q. Why have some animals no ears? A. Nature giveth unto every thing that which is fit for it; but if she had given birds ears, their flying would have been hindered by them. Likewise fish want ears, because they would hinder their swimming, and have only certain little holes through which they hear.

Q. Why have bats ears, although of the bird kind? A. Because they are partly birds in nature, in that they fly, by reason whereof they have wings; and partly they are hairy, and seem to be of the nature of mice, therefore nature hath given them ears.

Q. Why have men only round ears? A. Because the shape of the whole and of the parts should be proportionable, and especially in all things of one nature; for as a drop of water is round, so the whole water; and so, because a man’s head is round, the ear inclines towards the same figure; but the heads of beasts are somewhat long, and so the ears are drawn into length likewise.

Q. Why hath nature given all living creatures ears? A. 1. Because with them they should hear. 2. Because by the ear choleric superfluity is purged; for as the head is purged of phlegmatic superfluity by the nose, so from choleric by the ears.

_Of the Mouth._

Q. Why hath the mouth lips to compass it? A. Because the lips cover and defend the teeth; for it would be unseemly if the teeth were always seen. Also, the teeth being of a cold nature, would soon be hurt if they were not covered with lips.

Q. Why has a man two eyes, two ears, and but one mouth? A. Because a man should speak but little, and hear and see much. And by hearing and the light we see the difference of things.

Q. Why hath a man a mouth? A. 1. Because the mouth is the gate or door of the stomach. 2. Because the meat is chewed in the mouth, and prepared and made ready for the first digestion. 3. Because the air drawn into the hollow of the mouth for the refreshing of the heart is made pure and subtle.

Q. Why are the lips moveable? A. For the purpose of forming the voice and words, which cannot be perfectly done without them. For, as without _a_, _b_, _c_, there is no writing, so without the lips no voice can be well formed.

Q. What causes man to yawn or gape? A. It proceeds from the thick fume and vapours that fill the jaws; by the expulsion of which is caused the stretching out and expansion of the jaws, and opening of the mouth.

Q. Why doth a man gape when he seeth another doing the same? A. It proceeds from the imagination. And this is proved by the similitude of the ass, who, by reason of his melancholy, doth retain his superfluity for a long time, and would neither eat nor make water unless he should hear another doing the like.

_Of the Teeth._

Q. Why do the teeth only, amongst all other bones, experience the sense of feeling? A. That they may discern heat and cold, that hurt them, which other bones need not.

Q. Why have men more teeth than women? A. By reason of the abundance of heat and blood, which is more in men than women.

Q. Why do the teeth grow to the end of our life, and not the other bones? A. Because otherwise they would be consumed with chewing and grinding.

Q. Why do the teeth only come again when they fail, or be taken out, and other bones being taken away grow no more? A. Because all other bones are engendered of the humidity which is called radical, and so they breed in the womb of the mother; but the teeth are engendered of nutritive humidity, which is renewed and increased from day to day.

Q. Why do the fore-teeth fall in youth, and grow again, and not the cheek teeth? A. From the defect of matter, and from the figure; because the fore-teeth are sharp, and the others broad. Also, it is the office of the fore-teeth to cut the meat, and therefore they are sharp; and the office of the other to chew the meat, and therefore they are broad in fashion, which is fittest for that purpose.

Q. Why do the fore-teeth grow soonest? A. Because we want them sooner in cutting than the others in chewing.

Q. Why do the teeth grow black in human creatures in their old age? A. It is occasioned by the corruption of the meat, and the corruption of phlegm, with a choleric humour.

Q. Why are colt’s teeth yellow, and of the colour of saffron, when they are young, and become white when they grow up? A. Because horses have abundance of watery humours in them, which in their youth are digested and converted into grossness; but in old age heat diminishes, and the watery humours remain, whose proper colour is white.

Q. Why did nature give living creatures teeth? A. To some to fight with, and for defence of their lives, as unto wolves and bats; unto some to eat with, as unto horses; unto some for the forming of voice, as unto men.

Q. Why do horned beasts want their upper teeth? A. Horns and teeth are caused by the same matter, that is, nutrimental humidity, and therefore the matter which passeth into horns turneth not into teeth, consequently they want the upper teeth. And beasts cannot chew well; therefore, to supply the want of teeth, they have two stomachs, from whence it returns, and they chew it again; then it goes into the other to be digested.

Q. Why are some creatures brought forth, with teeth, as kids and lambs; and some without, as men? A. Nature doth not want unnecessary things, nor abound in superfluous; and therefore because these beasts, not long after they are fallen, do need teeth, they are fallen with teeth; but men, being nourished by their mother, for a long time, do not stand in need of teeth.

_Of the Tongue._

Q. Why is the tongue full of pores? A. Because the tongue is the means whereby we taste; and through the mouth, in the pores of the tongue, doth proceed the sense of tasting. Again, it is observed, that frothy spittle is sent into the mouth by the tongue from the lungs, moistening the meat, and making it ready for digestion.

Q. Why do the tongues of such as are sick of agues judge all things bitter? A. Because the stomachs of such people are filled with choleric humours; and choler is very bitter, as appeareth by the gall; therefore, this bitter fume doth infect their tongues; and so the tongue being full of those tastes, doth judge every thing bitter.

Q. Why doth the tongue water when we hear sour and sharp things spoken of? A. Because the imaginative virtue or power is of greater force than the power and faculty of tasting; and when we imagine a taste, we conceive the power of tasting as a means; there is nothing felt by the taste, but by means of the spittle the tongue doth water.

Q. Why do some persons stammer and lisp? A. Sometimes through the moistness of the tongue and brain, as in children, who cannot speak plainly nor pronounce many letters. Sometimes it happeneth by reason of the shrinking of certain sinews which go to the tongue, which are corrupted with phlegm.

Q. Why are the tongues of serpents and mad dogs venomous? A. Because of the malignity and tumosity of the venomous humour which predominates in them.

Q. Why is a dog’s tongue good for medicine, and a horse’s tongue pestiferous? A. By reason of some secret property, or that the tongue of a dog is full of pores, and so doth draw and take the viscosity of a wound. It is observed that a dog hath some humour in his tongue, with which, by licking, he doth heal; but the contrary effect is in a horse’s tongue.

Q. Why is spittle white? A. By reason of the continual movement of the tongue, whereof heat is engendered, which doth make this superfluity white; that is seen on the froth of water.

Q. Why is spittle unsavoury and without taste? A. If it had a certain determinate taste, then the tongue would not taste at all, but only give the taste of spittle, and could not distinguish others.

Q. Why does the spittle of one that is fasting heal an imposthume? A. Because it is well digested, and made subtle.

Q. Why do some abound in spittle more than others? A. This doth proceed of a phlegmatic complexion, which doth predominate in them; and such are liable to a quotidian ague, which ariseth from the predominance of phlegm: the contrary, in those that spit little, because heat abounds in them, which consumes the humidity of the spittle; and so the defect of spittle is the sign of fever.

Q. Why is the spittle of a man who is fasting more subtle than of one who is full? A. Because the spittle is without the viscosity of meat, which is wont to make the spittle of one who is full, gross and thick.

Q. From whence proceedeth the spittle of man? A. From the froth of the lungs, which, according to the physicians, is the seat of the phlegm.

Q. Why have not birds spittle? A. Because they have very dry lungs.

Q. Why doth the tongue sometimes lose the use of speaking? A. It is occasioned by a palsy or apoplexy, which is a sudden effusion of blood, and by gross humours; and sometimes also by infection of _spiritus animalis_ in the middle cell of the brain, which hinders the spirits from being carried to the tongue.

_Of the Roof of the Mouth._

Q. Why are fruits, before they are ripe, of a bitter or sour relish, and afterwards sweet? A. A sour relish or taste proceeds from coldness and want of heat in gross and thick humidity; but a sweet taste is produced by sufficient heat; therefore, in the ripe fruit humidity is subtle through the heat of the sun, and such fruit is commonly sweet; but before it is ripe, as humidity is gross or subtle for want of heat, the fruit is bitter or sour.

Q. Why are we better delighted with sweet tastes than with bitter or any other? A. Because a sweet thing is hot and moist, and through its heat dissolves and consumes superfluous humidities, and by this humidity immundicity is washed away; but a sharp eager taste, by reason of the cold which predominates in it, doth bind overmuch, and prick and offend the parts of the body in purging, and therefore we do not delight in that taste.

Q. Why doth a sharp taste, as that of vinegar, provoke appetite rather than any other? A. Because it is cold, and doth cool. For it is the nature of cold to desire and draw, and therefore it is the cause of appetite.

Q. Why do we draw in more air than we breathe out? A. Because much air is drawn in that is converted into nutriment, and with the vital spirits is contained in the lungs. Therefore a beast is not suffocated so long as it receives air with its lungs, in which some part of the air remaineth also.

Q. Why doth the air seem to be expelled and put forth, seeing the air is invisible, by reason of its variety and thinness? A. Because the air which is received in us, is mingled with vapours and fumes from the heart, by reason whereof it is made thick, and so is seen. And this is proved by experience, because that in winter we see our breath; for the coldness of the air doth bind the breath mixed with fume, and so it is thickened and made gross, and by consequence is seen.

Q. Why have some persons stinking breath? A. Because of evil fumes that arise from the stomach. And sometimes it doth proceed from the corruption of the airy parts of the body, as the lungs. The breath of lepers is so infected, that it would poison birds if near them, because the inward parts are very corrupt.

Q. Why are lepers hoarse? A. Because the vocal instruments are corrupted, that is, the lights.

Q. Why do persons become hoarse? A. Because of the rheum descending from the brain filling the conduit of the lights: and sometimes through imposthumes of the throat, or rheum gathering in the neck.

Q. Why have the females of all living creatures the shrillest voice, the crow only excepted, and a woman a shriller and smaller voice than a man? A. By reason of the composition of the veins the vocal arteries of voice are formed, as appears by this similitude, that a small pipe sounds shriller than a great. Also in women, because the passage where the voice is formed is made narrow and strait, by reason of cold, it being the nature of cold to bind; but in men, the passage is open and wider through heat, because it is the property of heat to open and dissolve. It proceedeth in women through the moistness of the lungs, and weakness of the heat. Young and diseased men have sharp and shrill voices from the same cause.

Q. Why doth the voice change in men at fourteen, and in women at twelve? A. Because then the beginning of the voice is slackened and loosened; and this is proved by the similitude of the string of an instrument let down or loosened which gives a great sound; and also because eunuchs, capons, &c. have softer and slenderer voices than others, in consequence of the absence of generating powers.

Q. Why do small birds sing more and louder than great ones, as appears in the lark and nightingale? A. Because the spirits of small birds are subtle and soft, and the organ conduit strait, as appeareth in a pipe; therefore their notes following easily at desire they sing very soft.

Q. Why do bees, wasps, locusts, and many other such like insects, make a noise, seeing they have no lungs, nor instruments of voice? A. Because in them there is a certain small skin, which, when struck by the air, causeth a sound.

Q. Why do not fish make a sound? A. Because they have no lungs, but only gills, nor yet a heart; and therefore they need not the drawing in of the air, and by consequence they make no noise, because a noise is the percussion of the air which is drawn.

_Of the Neck._

Q. Why hath a living creature a neck? A. Because the neck is the supporter of the head, and therefore the neck is in the middle between the head and the body, to the intent that by it and by its sinews, motion and sense of the body might be conveyed through all the body; and that by means of the neck, the heart, which is very hot, might be separated from the brain.

Q. Why do some creatures want necks, as serpents and fishes? A. Because they want hearts, and therefore want that assistance which we have spoken of; or else they have a neck in some inward part of them, which is not distinguished outwardly.

Q. Why is the neck full of bones and joints? A. That it may bear and sustain the head the better. Also, because the backbone is joined to the brain in the neck, and from thence it receives marrow, which is of the substance of the brain.

Q. Why have some creatures long necks, as cranes, storks, and such like? A. Because such birds seek their food at the bottom of waters. And some creatures have short necks, as sparrows, hawks, &c. because such are ravenous, and therefore for strength have short necks; as appeareth in the ox, which has a short neck and strong.

Q. Why is the neck hollow, and especially before, about the tongue? A. Because there are two passages, whereof the one doth carry the meat to the nutritive instrument, or stomach and liver, which is called by the Greeks _Œsophagus_; and the other is the wind-pipe.

Q. Why is the artery made with rings and circle? A. The better to bow and give a good sounding.

_Of the Shoulders and Arms._

Q, Why hath a man shoulders and arms? A. To lift and carry burdens.

Q. Why are the arms round? A. For the swifter and speedier work.

Q. Why are the arms thick? A. That they may be strong to lift and bear burdens, and thrust and give a strong blow; so their bones are thick, because they contain much marrow, or they would be easily corrupted and injured.

Q. Why do the arms become small and slender in some diseases, as in mad men and such as are sick of the dropsy? A. Because all the parts of the body do suffer the one with the other; and therefore one member being in grief, all the humours do concur and run thither to give succour and help to the aforesaid grief.

Q. Why have brute beasts no arms? A. Their fore feet are instead of arms, and in their place.

_Of the Hands._

Q. For what use hath a man hands, and an ape also like unto a man? A. The hand is an instrument that a man doth especially make use of, because many things are done by the hands and not by any other part.

Q. Why are some men ambo-dexter, that is, they use the left hand as the right? A. By reason of the great heat of the heart, and for the hot bowing of the same; for it is that which makes a man as nimble of the left hand as of the right.

Q. Why are the fingers full of joints? A. To be more fit and apt to receive and keep what are put in them.

Q. Why hath every finger three joints, and the thumb but two? A. The thumb hath three, but the third is joined to the arm, therefore is stronger than the other, fingers; and is called pollox, or polico, that is to excel in strength.

Q. Why are the fingers of the right hand nimbler than the fingers of the left? A. It proceedeth from the heat that predominates in those parts, and causeth greater agility.

_Of the Nails._

Q. From whence do nails proceed? A. Of the tumosity and humours, which are resolved and go into the extremities of the fingers, and they are dried through the power of the external air, and brought to the hardness of horn.

Q. Why do the nails of old men grow black and pale? A. Because the heat of the heart decaying, causeth their beauty to decay also.

Q. Why are men judged to be good or evil complexioned by the colour of their nails? A. Because they give witness of the goodness or badness of the heart, and therefore of the complexion; for if they be somewhat red, they betoken choler well tempered; but if they be yellowish or black, they signify melancholy.

Q. Why do white spots appear in the nails? A. Through mixture of phlegm with the nutriment.

_Of the Paps and Dugs._