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The inflation of the womb is a stretching of it by wind, called by some
a windy mole; the wind proceeds from a cold matter, whether thick or
thin, contained in the veins of the womb, by which the heat thereof is
overcome, and which either flows thither from other parts, or is
gathered there by cold meats and drinks. Cold air may be a producing
cause of it also, as women that lie in are exposed to it. The wind is
contained either in the cavity of the vessels of the womb, or between
the tumicle, and may be known by a swelling in the region of the womb,
which sometimes reaches to the navel, loins and diaphragm, and rises and
abates as the wind increaseth or decreaseth. It differs from the dropsy,
in that it never swells so high. That neither physician nor midwife may
take it for dropsy, let them observe the signs of the woman with the
child laid down in a former part of this work; and if any sign be
wanting, they may suspect it to be an inflation; of which it is a
further sign, that in conception the swelling is invariable; also if you
strike upon the belly, in an inflation, there will be noise, but not so
in case there be a conception. It also differs from a mole, because in
that there is a weight and hardness of the belly, and when the patient
moves from one side to the other she feels a great weight which moveth,
but not so in this.
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