Inaugural Medical Dissertation on the Procreation of Male Offspring

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C 2

...and these are primarily males, as the preceding points show. This is supported by the authority of the divine old man original: "diui senis." A traditional honorific for Hippocrates., who says: from weak seed, the weak are born; but from strong generation, the strong are produced. original: "ex infirmo semine infirmi : ex valida vero genitura validi generantur." On the other hand, from watery and immature seed, weak infants are produced who are prone to diseases and shorter-lived; indeed, females are generated rather than males. Who is there who doubts that such results come from the intercourse of the elderly, the adolescent, the drunk, and those otherwise living intemperately?

§. L.

Of all women, the most unfit for generation—both in general and specifically for a male—is the woman of a hot and dry temperament. This is because she has neither sufficient material for the maturation of the ovule original: "ouuli." This reflects early 18th-century theories of "ovism," where the egg was thought to contain the embryo, requiring heat and moisture to develop., nor, if she has conceived, for its growth. Therefore, even if she conceives, she suffers a miscarriage, as Hippocrates testifies in his Aphorisms Hippocrates, Aphorisms, Book 5, 44.. However, Huart Juan Huarte de San Juan (1529–1588), a Spanish physician known for his work on temperaments and intelligence. asserts in the cited place that this defect can be corrected by baths of fresh water, because they relax the flesh and moisten it. Yet Huart also judges that that woman, in whom one can observe beauty excellent in the highest degree, corresponds in her proportion to all men in general. These women do not differ from the preceding type; indeed, "man-like women" original: "viragines." Women who possessed physical characteristics traditionally associated with men, such as a robust frame or excessive hair. are almost always found to be sterile, especially those who approach the nature of men with a robust body and hairiness.

§. LI.

It is an old and true saying: Without Ceres and Bacchus, Venus grows cold. original: "Sine Cerere et Baccho friget Venus." A Roman proverb meaning that without food (Ceres, goddess of grain) and wine (Bacchus, god of wine), the drive for love and procreation (Venus) fails. For the human body is nothing other than food and drink transformed. Therefore, such as the nourishment is, so are the humors. From praiseworthy food follows good nutrition; from this comes the strength of the body, which arises from the abundance and vigor of the spirits In 18th-century medicine, "spirits" were vital fluids or gases believed to be refined from blood to animate the body., as well as from surplus nourishment. It is clear from this that those intent on generating offspring, and specifically male ones, must maintain a proper diet. Therefore, Parisanus Aemilius Parisanus (1567–1643), an Italian physician. says: The proper use of the Non-Naturals original: "R. N. N." or "Res Non Naturales." In Galenic medicine, these were the six factors within a person's control: air, diet, sleep, exercise, excretion, and emotions. is of no small value in procreating male offspring. It is therefore true what van Helmont Jan Baptista van Helmont (1580–1644), a pioneering Flemish chemist and physician. asserts: it is in the hand of the progenitor to generate a male or a female. It also depends on the varying use of the Non-Naturals that we see more males born at one time and more females born at another.