And now, because she can never be a skilful midwife who knows nothing
but what is to be seen outwardly, I do not think it will be amiss but
rather very necessary, modestly to describe the generative parts of
women as they have been anatomised by learned men, and to show the use
of such vessels as contribute to generation.
* * * * *
CHAPTER XIII
_The External, and Internal Organs of Generation in Women._
If it were not for the public benefit, especially for that of the
professors and practitioners of the art of midwifery, I would refrain
from treating the secrets of Nature, because they may be turned to
ridicule by lascivious and lewd people. But as it is absolutely
necessary that they should be known for the public good, I will not omit
them because some may make a wrong use of them. Those parts which can be
seen at the lowest part of the stomach are the _fissure magna_, or the
_great cleft_, with its _labia_ or lips, the _Mons Veneris_, or Mountain
of Venus, and the hair. These together are called the _pudenda_, or
things to be ashamed of because when they are exposed they cause a woman
_pudor_, or shame. The _fissure magna_ reaches from the lower part of
the _os pubis_, to within an inch of the _anus_, but it is less and
closer in virgins than in those who have borne children, and has two
lips, which grow thicker and fuller towards the pubis, and meeting on
the middle of the _os pubis_, form that rising hill which is called the
_Mons Veneris_, or the Hill of Venus.
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