Whence Do Babies Come?

Before modern medicine and studies of biology, theories of how babies developed in utero were "best guesses" based on what was observable externally. Yesterday's post related the notion that conception takes place when the seed from the father is exposed to the menses of the mother, which essentially is "food" that the seed uses to produce a baby. (This was opposed to Aristotle, who believed that the menses was the sole generating factor of the baby.)

A debate over the exact method of conception/gestation was explained in De Secreta mulierum, "Of the Secrets of Women":

Note that there is a controversy between medical authorities and philosophers, for philosophers say that the male seed has the same relationship to the female menses as an artificer does to his work. For just as a carpenter alone is the efficient cause, and the house is the effect, in that he alters and disposes the matter of the house, so the male seed alters the female menses into the form of a human being. ...

The medical authorities say the opposite, however, because man is made from the most noble material, and thus the male seed must enter the fetus materially, because the female menses is a superfluity of the second digestion and the male seed is better cooked and digested. Therefore it is necessary that it enter into the matter and substance of the fetus, for it is seen that sometimes the fetus resembles the father in genitals and in other ways, and this would be impossible if sperm were not incorporated materially. [translation by Helen Rodnite Lemay]

So philosophers (mostly male) believed that the male's seed is in the role of an artist and shapes the baby using material found inside the mother. Those who make a more clinical study of the human body were coming from what they observe of other creatures' life cycles, and believed that both bodies produced an amalgam that could become male or female. In other words:

The doctors say further that in the male seed there is a certain generating spirit which penetrates the entire seminal mass, and this spirit has the power to form all members. Just as a smith fashions iron with a hammer, this spirit disposes and softens all the members, and it is this spirit that is the efficient principle.

The philosophers, on the other hand, state that the male seed exudes as a vapor, for the womb is exceedingly porous and after the formation of the fetus the heat of the sun causes the male seed to evaporate and to leave the womb through the pores. It is evident that the womb is porous because the child receives nourishment through the pores.

I don't know what they thought the umbilical cord was for. I find references to clamping and cutting it, but not any theories as to why it existed. But here we have competing theories as to how the baby is conceived. The next question is how exactly does that small event produce a fully-formed human? Tomorrow we'll look at the chapter of the Secreta that deals with the formation of the fetus over time. See you soon.

(The illustration is actually the birth of Moses from the 14th-century Queen Mary psalter.)

Female Medicine

Yesterday's post claimed that there were few medical treatises about women as compared to those on men's health. We do have a few that we can look at, however. I have written long ago about Trotula, the first well-known female physician and professor of medicine at the medical college in Salerno in the 12th century. Three of her works are collected as La Trotula: "Book on the Conditions of Women," "On Treatments for Women," and "On Women's Cosmetics."

Trotula's contemporary Hildegarde of Bingen also wrote on women's medical matters.

One source of female medical advice was known as Secreta mulierum, "Of the Secrets of Women." Dating to the late 13th century or early 14th century, it was attributed to Albertus Magnus, but consensus says it was more likely a student or follower.

The Secreta was very popular, blending theories originally recorded by Hippocrates, Galen, and Aristiotle. These theories were more philosophical than medical. Besides discussing conception, for example, it goes in depth on how the alignment of planets and constellations influence the fetus during gestation.

It was translated into many languages over the next few centuries, and about 80 manuscripts still exist. Its apparent popularity did not save it from being placed on the Roman Catholic Index of Prohibited Books in 1605 because of its (let's say) "uncomfortable" topics.

Its take on conception is that the seed of the father interacts with the blood of menses, which is excess nutrition from the mother, expelled once each month. That "food" feeds the seed of the father during gestation, which is why menses stops: the father's seed is using it to grow the fetus. It also states that a woman on her period is dangerous and men should keep away from her. When menses stops with age, it builds up inside her and evil humors escape through her eyes and can harm others.

The Chapters of the Secreta are:

1. On the Generation of the Embryo
2. On the Formation of the Fetus
3. Concerning the Influence of the Planets
4. On the Generation of Imperfect Animals
5. On the Exit of the Fetus From the Uterus
6. Concerning Monsters in Nature
7. On the Signs of Conception
8. On the Signs of Whether a Male or Female Is In the Uterus
9. On the Signs of Corruption of Virginity
10. On the Signs of Chastity
11. Concerning a Defect of the Womb
12. Concerning Impediments to Conception
13. On the Generation of the Sperm

Tomorrow we'll look into the Chapters on the development of the baby inside. See you then.