Inaugural Medical Dissertation on the Procreation of Male Offspring

I understand "common individual" sterility to be when an individual is less fit for procreating children due to a natural defect or a disease. Regarding "marital" sterility original: "sterilitas coniugalis," referring to cases where two fertile people cannot conceive specifically with each other., Carlo Musitano Carlo Musitano (1635–1714) was an Italian physician and priest known for his works on syphilis and women's health. says that it occurs when the natures of those coming together are clashing. Because that explanation is obscure, to me it is a disparity of temperaments, because of which those generating are unable to manifest the principles of generation (§. 41), or if they do, those principles are disproportionate (§. 37). For example, if the male is "cold and moist" according to the ancients, and the female is "hot and dry"; or if the male is indeed hot, but the female is hotter, or more melancholic original: "melancholica." In humoral theory, a melancholic temperament was characterized as cold and dry, leading to "harder" physical structures. (§. 44) possessing harder fibers and thus harder "eggs" (ovula). In such a case, the male's plastic spirit original: "spiritus plasticus," the formative or "sculpting" power believed to reside in the semen that shapes the embryo. is much weaker than what is required to break through the egg (§. 39), to say nothing of the disproportionate constitution of the genitals themselves.

§. XXXXIII.

That marital sterility is a matter of both reason and daily experience—though few observe it and fewer still understand it—is evident from the fact that we see every day certain couples who, despite being joined for many years, do not produce children; yet when separated and joined with more suitable partners, both of them are able to produce offspring. See Huarte Juan Huarte de San Juan (1529–1588), a Spanish physician who wrote extensively on how individual temperaments relate to intelligence and biology. at the cited location, chapter 10; Jakob Rueff in On the Conception and Generation of Man, Book 6, chapter 1; and Wedel in Physiology Reformed.

§. XXXXIIII.

It is indubitable that an exact relationship is required between the "active" and the "passive" agent; therefore, in the work of generation (§. 36, 39, 42), there is a need for a proportionate constitution of the humors The "humors" (blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile) were the fluids thought to control health and personality. and the other parts in both parents, and a resulting harmony of organic movements. Yet, it must always be in such a proportion that the male is hot to a superior degree compared to the female; otherwise, he will not produce sons, and if he produces any children at all, they will be more effeminate original: "mulierosos," meaning more like a woman in character or appearance. (§. 34, 37, and following). Regarding this proportion, the illustrious Wedel Georg Wolfgang Wedel (1645–1721), a famous professor of medicine at Jena. in his Manuscript Collection on the Diseases of Women feels thus: The temperament of women favors conception in its own place; generally, it is hot and moist in itself, as if absolutely; but with respect to men, or comparatively, it is cold and moist.

§. XXXXV.

From the combination of a choleric woman A "choleric" person was thought to be hot and dry, often associated with a fiery or ambitious nature. and a phlegmatic man A "phlegmatic" person was thought to be cold and moist, often associated with a calm or sluggish nature., wise sons can be born, according to Huarte in the cited location, chapter 20.