Supposingnow this amicableEngagementofNatureto be over, I may be modestly allow’d (I hope) to add a few Words upon its necessaryConsequences; andFirst, of what has happen’d in theAct,Retention, andConceptionfollowing.
FIRSTthen, If theWomanhas contributed mostSeminal Matter, it may reasonably be concluded, that theChildwill favour theMothermost: If theManpredominantly, theFather: IfBothequally, it will resembleBoth, or in part theFather, and partly theMother.
ANDaccording toAnaxagoras, if theSeedhas flown into theRight Sideof theWomb, from the RightReinof the Man, aMalewill be conceiv’d; if into theLeft, from the LeftRein, aFemale; by reason of theFrigidityandHumidityof that Place. WhichNotionmay seemprobable; considering, that tho’ theWombhas but oneCavity, yet it has twoSinuses[40]for conceiving theTwo different Sexes: AsNaturehas in other Respects accordingly given theWomantwoBreasts.
LACTANTIUSalso observes[41], That, if peradventure aMaleshould be conceiv’d of theSeedfallen to theleft Side, the Place destinated for theFemale, he will make but aSemivirile Man; distinguishable by someWomanish Qualities, such as aweakortender Heart,smallVoice, asmooth, orunbearded Face, &c: And so, on the contrary, if aFemaleshould be conceiv’d of theSeedfallen to theright Side, she will have some distinguishableMarksofVirility; such as alarge Stature,robust Members,dusky Colour,rough hairy Face,coarse Voice, &c: And that because theConceptionhappen’d in that Place, whichNaturehad appropriated to theMale.
THISlikewise seems to be the best Reason which may be given whysome Women, likeHector’sWife, mentioned inHomer’s Iliads, are naturally inclin’d to intermeddle withMen’sAffairs; for having thus (as it were)originallyinvaded hisRightex traduce, they are always for maintaining theirwrong Conquests, and defending theirunjust Possessionsin future Progress of Time.
BUTI should rather in this Topick agree withVelthuysius[42], thatBothSeedsare each of them naturally endued with theFacultyof generating itsLike: I mean, theMan’s, to produce aMale; and theWoman’s, aFemale: And that therefore by a naturalPredominancy, where theMasculine Facultyhas prevail’d, aMan-Childis begot; and aGirl, where theFeminine Virtuehas exceeded it.
THIS, in short, is the best and only Reason I know, whyChildrenlike to eitherParentinSex, may yet differ inPhysiognomy,Manners, &c: theSeedof theoneperhaps prevailing inmakingtheSex, and That of theother, indeterminingthe rest of the Parts. Hence it is, in all Probability, that aChildlike hisFatherinSex, may be like hisMotherin naturalDispositionand Tenderness ofConstitution. Although by the way (without doubt) thePlaceorSinusof theWomb,Matter,Heat, andImaginationof theWoman, contribute very much to theDifferenceof theSex; as will hereafter more plainly appear at large.AND, in fine,Thisis the onlyCauseof theConceptionofHermaphrodites, that the emittedSubstanceofBoth Parentscontaining the full respectiveFacultyofEach, is sufficiently prolifick and prevalent to constitute and distinguish each properSex, in one and the samepersonal Production. But before I proceed farther on theSimilitude of Children, I beg leave previously to describe theForceofIMAGINATION.