FORM OF A MALE CHILD IN THE WOMB.
EXPLANATION.
A The uterus, as stretched to near its full extent, containing the fœtus entangled in the funis.—B. B. The superior part of the ossa ilium.—C. C. The actebula. D. D. The remaining posterior parts of the ossa ischium.—E. The coccyx.—F. The inferior part of the rectum.—G. G. The vagina stretched on each side.—H. The os uteri, stretching to its full extent.—I. I. Part of the vesica urinaria.—K. K. The placenta at the superior and posterior parts of the uterus.—L. The Membranes.—M. The funis umbilicalis.
ARISTOTLE’S BOOK OF PROBLEMS,
WITH OTHER
ASTRONOMERS, ASTROLOGERS, AND PHYSICIANS,
CONCERNING
THE STATE OF MAN’S BODY.
Q. Among all living creatures, why hath man only his countenance lifted up towards heaven? A. 1. From the will of the Creator. But, although this answer be true, yet it seemeth not to be of force, because that so all questions might be easily resolved. Therefore, 2. I answer, that, for the most part, every workman doth make his first work worse, and then his second better; so God creating all other animals before man gave them their face looking down to the earth; and then secondly, he created man, unto whom he gave an upright shape, lifted unto heaven, because it is drawn from divinity, and is derived from the goodness of God, who maketh all his works both perfect and good. 3. Man only among all living creatures, is ordained to the kingdom of heaven and therefore hath his face elevated and lifted up to heaven, because that, despising earthly and worldly things, he ought often to contemplate on heavenly things. 4. That the reasonable man is like unto angels, and finally ordained towards God; and therefore he hath a figure looking upward. 5. Man is a microcosm, that is, a little world, and therefore he doth command all other living creatures, and they obey him. 6. Naturally there is unto every thing and every work that form and figure given which is fit and proper for its motion; as unto the heavens roundness, to the fire a pyramidical form, that is, broad beneath and sharp towards the top, which form is most apt to ascend; and so man has his face towards heaven, to behold the wonders of God’s works.
Q. Why are the heads of men hairy? A. The hair is the ornament of the head, and the brain is purged of gross humours by the growing of the hair, from the highest to the lowest, which pass through the pores of the exterior flesh, become dry, and converted into hair. This appears to be the case from the circumstance that in all man’s body there is nothing drier than the hair, for it is drier than the bones; and it is well known that some beasts are nourished with bones, as dogs, but they cannot digest feathers or hair, but void them undigested, being too hot for nourishment. 2. It is answered, that the brain is purged in three different ways; of superfluous watery humours by the eyes, of choler by the nose, and of phlegm by the hair; which is the opinion of the best physicians.
Q. Why have men longer hair on their heads than any other living creatures? A. Arist. de. Generat. Anim. says, that men have the moistest brains of all living creatures, from which the seed proceedeth which is converted into the long hair of the head. 2. The humours of men are fat, and do not become dry easily; and therefore the hair groweth long on them. In beasts, the humours easily dry, and therefore the hair groweth not so long.
Q. Why doth the hair take deeper root in man’s skin than in that of any other living creatures? A. Because it has greater store of nourishment in man, and therefore grows more in the inward parts of man. And this is the reason why in other creatures the hair doth alter and change with the skin, and not in man, unless by a scar or wound.
Q. Why have women longer hair than men? A. 1. Because women are moister and more phlegmatic than men; and therefore there is more matter for hair in them, and, by consequence, the length also of their hair. And, furthermore, this matter is more increased in women than men from their interior parts, and especially in the time of their monthly terms, because the matter doth then ascend, whereby the humour which breedeth the hair doth increase. 2. Because women want beards; so the matter of the beard doth go into that of the hair.
Q. Why have some women soft hair and some hard? A. 1. The hair hath proportion with the skin; of which some is hard, some thick, some subtle and soft, and some gross; therefore the hair which grows out of a thick gross skin, is thick and gross; that which groweth out of a subtle and fine skin is fine and soft; when the pores are open, then cometh forth much humour, and therefore hard hair is engendered; and when the pores are strait, then there doth grow soft and fine hair. This doth evidently appear in men, because women have softer hair than they; for in women the pores are shut and strait, by reason of their coldness. 2. Because for the most part, choleric men have harder and thicker hair than others, by reason of their heat, and because their pores are always open, and therefore they have beards sooner than others. For this reason also, those beasts which have hard hair are the boldest, because such have proceeded from heat and choler, examples of which we have in the bear and boar; and contrariwise, those beasts that have soft hair are fearful, because they are cold, as the hare and the hart. 3. From the climate where a man is born; because in hot regions hard and gross hair is engendered, as appears in the Ethiopians, and the contrary is the case in cold countries towards the north.
Q. Why have some men curled hair and some smooth? A. From the superior degree of heat in some men, which makes the hair curl and grow upward: this is proved by a man’s having smooth hair when he goes into a hot bath, and it afterwards becomes curled. Therefore, keepers of baths have often curled hair, as also Ethiopians and choleric men. But the cause of the smoothness is the abundance of moist humours.