“And if any man shall lie with her at all, and her flowers be upon him, he shall be unclean seven days; and all the bed on which he lieth shall be unclean.
“And if the woman shall have an issue of her blood many days out of the time of her separation, or if it shall run beyond the time of her separation, all the days of the issue of her uncleanness shall be as the days of her separation: she shall be unclean.
“Every bed on which she lieth all the days of her issue shall be to her as the bed of her separation; and whatever she sitteth upon shall be unclean as the uncleanness of her separation.
“And whoever touches those things shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.
“But if she shall be cleansed of her issue, then she shall number to herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean.”
Thus we see how particular, in regard to the menstrual function, were those good old people of the Mosaic time. No doubt many at this enlightened age would say that they carried things to an extreme.
I cannot but think, however, that it would be a great improvement if our modern ladies, some of them, at least, would be one half as careful in regard to cleanliness as the Jewish people were.
The Romans believed the menstrual fluid to be endowed with the most noxious qualities. It was, in short, regarded as a dangerous poison, the exhalations of which alone are sufficient to turn all the sauces of a whole kitchen, the cheeses of a whole dairy, and make a whole family sick, and wilt all the flowers of a parterre.
If the ancients went to an extreme on one side in this matter, there is, perhaps, equal danger with the moderns of going quite as far in the opposite way. Certain it is, that too great pains cannot be taken in reference to this period. It is generally true that old proverbs have at least some truth on which they were originally founded. There was wisdom in the Levitical law, so strict in regard to the purification of women at this period.
Does the menstrual discharge consist of blood? This is a question concerning which physiologists, both ancient and modern, have put forth many speculations, and many experiments have been instituted to settle the matter.