MANYgreat Men have written and answer’d promiscuously on thisHead, suggesting a vast Variety ofReasonsfor it: But asEvery Oneis left to think and judge the Best he can for Himself, so I shall (in this place) only animadvert uponThose Causes, which I most entirely approve of; and as they areFivefold, so I think, they either depend upon theGenital Seed; theFormative Faculty; theTemperatureof theWomb; theConstitutionof theWoman; or theInfluenceofSuperiour Bodies.
I.THEnatural Causemay depend upon theSeed: Because as there is amongGrainseveralsorts, some of which fructify and ripen inThree, some inFour Months, and others which require muchlonger Time; so it may be also inhumanSeed, that it may differ as much in its Kind. Which Truth is very evident from what has been frequently observed, thatWomenbring forth theChildrenof differentFathers, at different Times; whereof I shall only mention the remarkable Instance ofVestilia[149]: who was thus deliver’d ofThree Childrento herThree several Husbands,Herditius,Pomponius, andOrsitus, all noble Citizens ofRome:viz.Of theonein the7th, of theotherin the11th, and of thelastat the Expiration of8 Months.
II.THEnatural Causemay also depend upon theFORMING FACULTY; so far, as theFormationandPerfectionof theFOETUSdepend upon itsStrengthorDebility: For as it may be evidently observ’d after theBIRTH, thatsome Childrengrow a-pace and very suddenly;others(because of asickly Constitution) thrive but very little, and grow slowly; so it happens also with theFOETUSin theWomb: for thestrongerthat thisFacultyis, the soonerFormationis perfected, and consequently the sooner theBIRTHfollows successfully.
III.THENaturalCauseagain may depend upon theTemperatureof theWomb: Because that theWoman(being the onlyoneof all Creatures which toleratesCopulationduring the time ofPregnancy) may be, by its frequent or immoderateUse, disorder’d in that noblePart; which may infallibly confound and pervert the regularTime. For as theBudsofVinescherish’d in the Bosom of theEarth, may be easily cut or dissipated by thePlough; so as at least to alter theTimeofFructification, if not quite to destroyThem: So it is not very unlikely with theInfantin theWomb; and therefore wiseNature(sollicitous ofPropagationandPreservationof theHumanFoetus) will not allow that aWomanshould have oneprecise TimeofBIRTH.
IV.THENaturalCausemay also depend upon theConstitutionof theMother, so far as herHabitsof Body, andWay of Living, are conducive (ornot) to theMaturation,Perfection,Strength, orDebilityof theINFANT.
V.ANDfinally, theCausemay depend upon asuperiour Influence, in so far that, as we see with ourEyes, suchGrainas issowed, and suchPlantsorTreesas areplantedin theInterlunium, orsilent Moon, and beforeFull-Moon, to fructify andripensooner than others: Or, as we see and perceive our veryNailsandHairwhich arecutin that Time, togrowfaster and sooner, than what is socutafter theFull-Moon: So we may as easily comprehend by ourReason, that theseTimesmay have the same NaturalEffectin the[150]Human Seed. And as then thePartsare moreSucculent, and theGenerativeVirtuemoreexcitated, not only in theHuman Seed, but also in all otherSeedsandRoots, what wonder is it, that theWombbe also moreefficaciousandprestantat the sameConjuncture?
This I take to have beenPliny’s[151]Meaning, saying none arebornin the 7th Month, but they who have beenconceiv’din the veryChangeof theMoon, or within a Day of it, under or over. Hence I may justly observe, that allslower Birthshave beenbegottenat opposite Times; for which, I think, I have also sufficient Authority from[152]HIPPOCRATEShimself, saying, when aWoman conceivesafterFull-Moon, thatConceptionmust, of Necessity, reach the 11th Month.
HAVINGthus far (according to the Best of my Judgment) dilucidated theseCases, and having hitherto conducted theWoman with Child, and brought her safe this Length, thro’ all theDifficultiesshe has been expos’d to, and the manyHardshipsshe has met with in herGestationorBearing-Time, to the compleatNumberof herMONTHS, or preciseTimeof herLABOUR: It remains now, that I should also direct herSafetyupon that emergent Occasion; since if we should now lose our good and fruitfulWomanat last, all our previousPainsandCarehave beenLabour in vain, and nothing butFrustration. But, because theWorkofDELIVERY, does not always depend upon theWomanherself, and but seldom in theseCountries, upon thePhysician; before I commit her to theHandsof the rude or unskilful, (whetherMANorWOMAN-MIDWIFE) I shall in the next Place, (with all dueDeferenceto mySUPERIOURS, especially the eminentProfessorsofPhysick, andPractisersofMidwiferyin theCityofLONDON) endeavour to instruct such Persons in theFundamentalsof theirART, and to qualify them with the necessaryKnowledge, and indispensibleDutyof theirBUSINESS.
INfine, I shall attempt now to perform ThisUndertakingin the plainest and most succinctTermsfollowing.