THEPREFACETO THEREADER.

Asthe Study ofPhysickhas differ’d in every Age, according to the prevailing Opinions and Ambiguous Determinations ofPhilosophers, so the Practice ofMidwiferyhas also varied, according to the Judicious Experiments and successful Operations ofProfessors; until of late Years, by the many happy Discoveries and strict Inquiries made into the Secrets of Nature, and Natural Causes, these Healing and obstetriciousArtsare so much improv’d and advanc’d, that, they now seem to be arriv’d at their very Height ofPerfection:Insomuch that both theoneand theotherstand this Day upon as sure a Foundation, and as certain Principles, as most otherSciencesdo, which notwithstanding are not exempted from the Fate ofCasualties.

THECase then being so, it becomes all Men of Ingenuity and Integrity, to be alsoCommunicativeof such Things, as may tend to the Welfare of their Neighbours and to the Common Good of Mankind; since according to the ExcellentPoet,

Scire tuum nihil est, nisi te scire hoc, sciat alter.

THISwas the Principle of theAncients, who, as they discover’d the Natural Debility of theFemale Sex, and that Women were not only Subject to all Diseases in common with Men, but also obnoxious to a vast many Distempers peculiarly singular to themselves, were first mov’d to write particularBooks, and respectiveTreatises, upon these Heads: The most wise and divineHippocrates, first breaking the Ice, after himDiocles, nextAetius, and at last manyothers; For the more Learned and Ingenious that any one found himself in his respective Age, the more readily he exercis’d himself in these difficult Points.

BUTnow a-daysWomenmay well complain, and cry out withSoranus, “O malè Occupatum virorum Genus, occidimur nos, non Morimur: Et ab illis, qui inter vos peritissimi existimantur, perperam curatæ, vos vero de qualibet vel levissima vestrarumAffectionum, Libros ex Libris facientes, Bibliothecas voluminibus oneratas, de Nostris inter ea diris ac difficillimis Cruciatibus, nulla vel exigua, & ea quidem satis oscitanter mentione factâ”: ThatMen, in short, study their own Good, and take more Care of Themselves than of theWomen.

BECAUSEthen there are so many Faults and Defects in this part ofPhysick; in that theAntients, by reason of their precise Gravity, rendred theirWorkseither obscure, or at least difficult to be understood: Assomeof the moremodern Authorshave, treated them but Partially and Defectively in most respects;othersbut transiently and indifferently, or as if they were otherways employ’d:Someagain darkly and briefly;othersso confusedly and prolixly, that we may justly say to them, as theLacedemoniansdid to theSamian Legatsof old; “Prioris orationis vestræ partis sumus obliti, postremam ob primæ oblivionem non intelleximus”: We have forgot the Beginning of your Discourse, and for that reason, cannot understand the latter Part.

THESEbeing the Reasons of this Undertaking, I shall trouble you with no fartherApologiesin its behalf, save only that I thought it my Duty, notwithstanding the ConsiderableChargeand immenseLabour, not only so far to endeavour to imitate myPredecessors, but also to deserve well of Humane Kind, and particularly ofEnglish Women:Firstby collecting these things, which I have found clearly written by the most approvedAuthors, togetherwith what I have conceiv’d to be true and Rational by my own painful Study, frequent Speculation, and assiduous Practice; andSecondlyby publishing thisPraxisandAnalysisof Women’s Distempers, as they are accurately, tho’ succinctly comprehended in this smallVolume: Yet not so briefly neither, but that most Things are consider’d and explain’d for removingObscurity; nor so prolixly, that any Head is swell’d with Trifles or empty Words: And that not only in our vernacularTongue, but also in a certain middleStyle, adapted to the Capacity of the meanestReader; so that if it be possible, where theFlowersare thinnest Sown, there theFruitmay appear the thickest; Because I have all along consider’d this to be no Work ofEloquence, but ofMidwifery, orPhysick, orbothtogether, if you please, in which I have studied the common Good, but no vain Glory.

INcomposing theWork, I have follow’d such Methods as seem’d to me the most conducive towards its Use and Design, and insisted only upon suchTopicks, as can be most serviceable to the World, and absolutely necessary in the Practice of either of theseArts; without touching upon any of the pompous Superfluities, with whichPhysick, as well as otherProfessions, is now a-days over-run and embarrass’d: TheoneI apprehended to concern my Integrity, and theotheronly an empty Applause. But that you may be at no Loss in conceiving the Regularity of my Method, because of the variety of Subjects to be met with, I shall here delineate or draw out theLinesof theWork, andgive you some distantIdeaof it, if possible, by a general Hint upon everyPartorSectionof theBook,Viz.

INthefirst Part, I have explain’d the History of theFormationandAnimationof Man, together with theMaturation,Nutrition, andPositionof the Infant in the Womb; to which I have subjoin’d theAnatomicalAccount of theMembranesandWaters, as well as of theAfter-BirthandNavel-String. I have likewise in this place previously set forth the Dignity and Excellency ofMan, together with the Faculties of ourSouls, and the Qualities of ourBodies; And, having initiated the whole with the Natural Proofs of aGod, and a short Dissertation uponNature, I hope none will take that amiss, because my Belief in theone, and the small Knowledge I have acquir’d of theother, are to be myGuidethroughout the Course of my Life, as well as myDirectoryin the present Performance.

INtheSecond Part, I have not only explain’d the NaturalPhilosophyof theMaiden-State, and set forth the Passions, as well as the Diseases familiar toVirgins; but also defin’d the Power ofImagination, and added the Natural Reasons for the variousLikenessesof Children.

INtheThird, I have expounded the Mystery ofConception, together with its Diagnostick Signs: I have directed theRegimenof the Pregnant Woman, and particularly set forth the variousSymptomsof the Months of Gestation, together with theAcute Diseasesincidentto her in that Time. I have in the same place insisted at Large uponMiscarriage, and explain’d at length theMystical Theoryof Birth in general.

INtheFourth Section, I have defin’d theArt of Midwifery, and the Contemplation of itsTheoretical, as well as itsPracticalKnowledge: And, thatWomenpractising thisArt, may not mistake me in what is said or recommended to them, I have also addressed my self toMenprofessing the sameScience; and, with all imaginable Impartiality, told them both theirFaultsand theirDuties, however without any intended particularReflection. To which I have subjoin’d a compleatAnatomical Descriptionof the Parts ofGenerationproper to Women; together with the Natural History of theMatrixand its amazing Faculties.

INtheFifth, I have ingenuously laid open the whole Mystery ofMidwifery, as to all Sorts ofBirths, whetherNaturalorPreternatural, and faithfully laid down the Fundamental Principles and most certain Rules of thisProfession; and that not only according to the bestNotionsof my own Application and Study, or the realDictatesof my proper Practice and Experience; but also according to the most ingenious Precepts and infallibleMaximsof the ablest and most politeProfessorsof this excellentArt, and that also according to its newest and latestImprovements: And in theseCases, I have neither fear’d the Invectives of the ÆmulousZoilus, nor regarded the Snarlings of the reprehensiveMomus: For Wise Men arenot any longer to be entertained withÆnigmas, sinceGodhath said,Fiat Lux.

INtheSixth Part, I have not only prescrib’d the dueRegimen, and provided for the Safety and happyRecoveryof theChild-Bed-Woman, but also taken a suitable and corresponding Care of herBabe; As I have farther instilled particularly upon the various Disasters incident to bothMotherandChild, in their respective tender Conditions ofChild-BedandInfancy.

INtheSeventh, I have dilucidated thePhilosophical Historyof all the different Sorts ofPreternatural Conceptionsas well asBirths; and insisted at large upon the Theme of Women’sSterilityorBarrenness.

INtheEighthand lastSection, I have not only defin’d theWidow-State, as far as it concern’d my Purpose, but also diligently pursued theSubject-Matter, and traced down the Particulars of their commonGrievances.

THESE, I say, are the general Heads of theWork, which are all again sub-divided into their proper respective Particulars; and consequently every generalHeadorSectionassign’d its own relativeChapters, for the singular Benefit and more easy Comprehension of theReader. And theseChaptersconsisting of 130 in Number, I have, with respect to every singularDistempermentioned in them,First, defin’d the Nature of theDisease;Secondly, accounted for itsCauses;Thirdly, I have given theDiagnostick SignsorSymptoms;Fourthly, thePrognosticksor Degrees ofDanger; to which I haveFifthlyand lastly added the Method ofPreventionin many Cases, and That ofCurein All: So that there is almost not oneDiseasewhich can affect the Woman from herBirthto herDeath, inChild,Maiden,Wife, orWidow-hood, whoseEssence,Species,Differences,Causes,Signs, andPrognosticks, we have not sufficiently clear’d up.

ALLthese Things I have endeavour’d to be most particular in, to the end that anyWoman, who reads, so as to be conversant with thisBook, may know before She sends for herPhysician, not only herDistemper, but also theDanger, with which she is threatned upon every Sickly occasion. And in these Things I flatter my self that thisWorkwill prove Acceptable, where such a Number ofDiseasesandSymptomsare set forth in so clear a Light, that any Person, making use of their Eyes and Reason only, without being any ways vers’d in the Practice ofPhysick, orMidwifery, may evidently see, perceive, and by Experience find, every individualCaseto answer these Ends, and the whole to correspond exactly with itsTitleandContents.

BUTupon the whole, if here and there a briefPhilosophicalway of Reasoning has crept in, I would have you consider, that it could not be avoided; because theProofsrelating to Natural Things are sometimes taken from very minuteInstruments; And that the Design of such anInterspersion, is only to assist your Understanding, and conduct your Thoughtsthrough theWork. However in suchCasestheReadermay go on, or pass by what does not suit with hisTaste, as he pleases. Again if here and there, I have retain’d aTerm of Art, which the commonReadermay call a hard Word, I declare it is out of no Design to amuse any one, but out of mere Necessity, since otherways I should have been ridiculously singular, and far less understood: In the mean time I have taken what Care I could to explain the most, or at least the most requisite ofThese, insomuch that whateverWordsorSentencesof this Kind are not fully interpreted, you may slip over, without losing any thing Material of the Purport of the Matter, such Things concerning thePractitionermore than the commonReader.

HOWEVERyet, if the Measures I have pursued in handling this uncultivatedSubject, should not appear so exactly Methodical as some of you may expect, I shall only say forExcuse, that, as it belongs to hard Labour to cut out new Paths and Ways thro’WoodsandDesarts, and whereGuidesare wanting, to find out the shortestCut; so it is only by frequentTravelling, that suchRoadscan become smooth and easy, however exactly plan’d. Again farther, I would have you also to consider the Difficulty of theTask, to contract Much in a Little; to omit Nothing which ought to be animadverted; to join Perspicuity with Brevity; and after all, finally to reduce the whole to the certainPreceptsofArt.

I have incessantly perus’d the vastVolumesof others,Ancientsas well asModerns; and whatever may be found there variously dispers’d, over-strain’d, or collected profusely, without either Order, or Coherence, you’ll find here manifestly disposed, and neatly contracted in this smallWork. I have sever’d theGrainfrom theChaff, winnowed theSeedsfrom theHusks, and purged theGoldfrom theOre, to the end that I might again successfullySowwhat I have thus laboriouslyreaped; and digest all Things into such an easy and clearMethod, that you’ll be at no Loss here for what you want, but may turn to it at once, whatever theCasemay be; you’ll read nothing twice, nor will you fall into anyTrifles, which might either confuse, or detain you.

BUTthat I may not be misconstrued or misrepresented here, give me Leave to affirm that the Design of thisWork, is not to reprehend or find Fault, with any formerWriter’s Performance; but only to render these Things, whichothershave either treated negligently, or indifferently, confusedly, or obscurely, the more Clear and Evident.

THIS, candidReader, being the Design as well as the Reason of myUndertaking, according to theFruityou receive by it, Pray, repress the Minds of the Invidious; and according to the Judgment you make of its Worth, let it stand or fall in your Esteem. Not that I am so vain in theinterimto imagine, that the Work can stand upon the Foot of its ownMerit; and far less can I expect that it willescape the ordinary Fate ofCensure: No, I shall take it well, considering itsImperfections, if it undergoes no worse Fate, than what is common toBooks; especially considering that it is no ways set off with a greatFigure, under the splendid appearance and modish Trappings of flourishingHypotheses, so common among ourModern Writers.

THEREare many Things altogether New in ourMidwifery, which I would have none rashly to stumble at, tho’ I know thatNew Opinionsare always suspected and generally opposed, merely because they are not alreadyCommon: But as I am not in any respect to press myNotionof Things upon the Belief ofothers, so I desire not to establish anyMaximsof mine in other PeoplesOpinions, farther than they think fit. I know the Relish of theUnderstanding, is often as different as that of thePalate; Hence it is thatsomeMen condemn, whatothersapprove; andsomedespise whatothersadmire: Yea such is the Uncertainty of Men’sJudgments, concerning the Excellency of Things, that noNutof Learning was ever yet open’d, whoseContentswere allowed by all to be pureKernel: And no more has anyTruthbeen yet discover’d, either inPhysickorMidwifery, which has not been question’d, and theDetectorexclaim’d against as a pedantickInnovator: But all that I shall say to theseThingsis, that, asAntiquitywill never protect anErrorin Judgment, soNoveltyshall never prejudice me againstTruth, whether of my own or other People’sInvention.

UPONthe whole, I would in fine recommend my self to the candidReader’s Benevolent and Charitable Opinion, and if in any particular Point or Respect (because we are butMen) I may not have had the Happiness to please, or to give Satisfaction, Pray impute it not toSlothorIdleness, but toPeregrinationandTravelling; in which it may be well suppos’d thatStudiesare too often interrupted. Remember alsothatofPliny, “haud ullo in genere veniam Justiorem esse, si modò mirum non est, Hominem Genitum non omnia Humana novisse.” For as none of us can do all Things, nor is sufficient for All; so it is Natural forManto fall, to err, and to be deceiv’d: And as we see someBlemishesin the most beautifulBodies, so there is nothing altogetherPerfect, among the Works of Men.

Farewell.

From my House, inNew-Bond-street,over againstBenn’s-Coffee-House,nearHannover-Square. 1724.

J. M.

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