Inaugural Medical Dissertation on the Procreation of Male Offspring

...which either hinder or help the procreation of a male, on the part of both the man and the woman, so that through these factors the true method of generating a male offspring may be established and made known.

§. XXXXI.

Just as heat and moisture are essential for life, so too are they the primary principles of generation. Consequently, if either quality is lacking or excessive in either spouse, conception will not occur, or will not be successfully completed. On this point, Hippocrates Hippocrates of Kos (c. 460 – c. 370 BCE), the ancient Greek physician traditionally regarded as the father of medicine. in his Aphorisms (Book 5, 62) pronounces that wombs which are excessively dry or overly moist are sterile; and in the following aphorism (5.63), he says: The logic is the same regarding males. original: "Par est... de maribus ratio." Heat, as the active quality, belongs specifically to the male and is required of him, whereas moisture belongs to the female. Couples who possess this balanced relationship to one another—not merely in their individual organs, but in their whole being (for the quality of the individual parts depends on the mixture of humors original: "crasi," referring to the Galenic theory that health and temperament are determined by the specific balance of the four bodily fluids. in the whole body and the texture of the solid parts)—not only enjoy fertile unions, but also primarily produce male children. Although this thesis is deduced from the preceding points and serves as their corollary original: "consectarium," a logical conclusion that follows from proven premises., when taken together with Section 37, it forms the foundation of the effort to procreate males. This thesis also makes it clear that not everyone is compatible with everyone else; rather, there exists a conflict or mismatch of temperaments between spouses. On this subject, Carlo Musitano Carolus Musitanus (1635–1714), an influential Italian physician known for blending traditional Galenic medicine with newer chemical theories. in his Works (p. 448) states: Thus, when both parties are intensely hot or cold, their temperaments do not easily harmonize, or even a union of complete opposites is deemed useless. original: "sic amborum impense calidorum aut frigidorum non facilis est consensus temperamentorum..." In the first case, one of the principles of generation is missing; in the second, there is an excess of them. Therefore, it is of no small importance to determine who should be joined with whom if the procreation of offspring—especially male offspring—is the goal, and this goal can be achieved through these principles.

§. XXXXII.

Therefore, sterility, as well as impotence, is in my view twofold: namely, individual and, if I may use the term, conjugal. Regarding the former, many—indeed, nearly all writers on practical medicine—have written; regarding the latter, as far as I know, few have written, and among these Huarte Juan Huarte de San Juan (1529–1588), a Spanish physician who wrote extensively on how individual "wits" and temperaments affect human biology and compatibility. has written most excellently. Unless one has a clear perspective on this and properly distinguishes it from individual sterility, one can neither think correctly about sterility, nor...