Inaugural Medical Dissertation on the Procreation of Male Offspring

...motion. When an anatomical examination original: "extispicio" is performed a few days later, a certain substance is usually found in the ovary. According to the assertions of Bohn Johannes Bohn (1640–1718), a German physician who emphasized experimental methods in anatomy., Ruysch, and Malpighi Marcello Malpighi (1628–1694), an Italian physician and the founder of microscopical anatomy., this is nothing other than the tunic or membrane that contained the small egg before impregnation. Although this was initially membranous, once it was wounded by the exit of the egg, it turned into a spongy substance due to the copious flow of humors. This happens in the same way as in fleshy wounds, where a luxuriant growth of "proud flesh" granulation tissue that forms during healing often grows to a large size. Men of worldwide fame assert that this was the seat of the aforementioned egg; Manget Jean-Jacques Manget (1652–1742), a Genevan physician known for his vast medical compilations. states in his Theatrum Anatomicum (Book II, Part II, Chapter 2) that it was originally a membrane.

§. XXIV.
Therefore, generation can now be defined more clearly than before: it is nothing other than the "evolution" In the 18th century, "evolution" meant the "unfolding" or "unrolling" of a tiny, pre-formed body already existing in the egg. of a pre-existing organic corpuscle a "little body" or microscopic particle triggered by heat and the "spirituous" substance of the male seed. It is not, however, governed by a "rational soul"—as such a soul would be ignorant of the body’s mechanical structure—nor by a "formative faculty," which is merely a fiction of the ancient philosophers.

§. XXV.
Conception occurs in an instant. Because of this, menstruation usually ceases immediately, and the duration of pregnancy and labor is counted from the first day of intercourse, both by physicians and by the common people. (See Wedel, in the work cited above).

§. XXVI.
Therefore, to claim that a human is generated from an egg implies that he is not generated from a "little animal" original: "animalculo"; refers to the spermatozoa discovered by Leeuwenhoek.. Nor does the hypothesis regarding the reception of a "little worm" into the cicatricula the "little scar" or germinal disc on the egg where fertilization occurs of the egg lend credit to that assertion, as it is subject to countless difficulties. For who, among the countless little worms discharged into the uterus with the substance of the seed, taught only a single one the way to the "witnesses" original: "testes"; here referring to the ovaries, which were historically called "female testicles."? If the opinion of Leeuwenhoek regarding the male seed were certain, I would embrace the opinion of the illustrious Lister Martin Lister (1639–1712), an English physician and naturalist. along with the celebrated Manget: namely, that these little animals exist in the male seed solely for the purpose of increasing "titillation" sensory stimulation or pleasure during intercourse. (See Theatrum Anatomicum, Book II, Part II, Chapter 1).

§. XXVII.
Conception normally occurs nowhere else but in the ovary, and growth original: "generatio" normally occurs nowhere else but in the uterus (as noted in §. 22). This contradicts Gouey Jean-Baptiste de la Motte Gouey, a surgeon who argued fertilization happened in the womb., who writes that the small egg is not fertilized until it has fallen into the uterus. However, his error is clearly demonstrated by "tubal conceptions" ectopic pregnancies, where the fetus begins to develop in the fallopian tubes rather than the womb..