Another
reason is, because the child's soft and tender body is wringed and put
together coming out of the narrow and strait passage of the matrix, and
especially, the brain being moist, and the head being pressed and
wrinkled together, is the cause that some humours distil by the eyes,
which are the cause of tears and weeping.
Q. Why doth the child put its fingers into its mouth as soon as it
cometh into the world? A. Because that coming out of the womb it cometh
out of a hot bath, and entering into the cold, puts them into its mouth
for want of heat.
_Of the Child in the Womb._
Q. How is the child engendered in the womb? A. The first six days the
seed hath this colour of milk, but in the six following a red colour,
which is near unto the disposition of the flesh; and then it is changed
into a thick substance of blood. But in the twelve days following, this
substance becomes so thick and round that it is capable of receiving
shape and form.
Q. Doth the child in the womb void excrements or make water? No. Because
it hath not the first digestion which is in the stomach. It receives no
food by the mouth, but by the navel; therefore, makes no urine but
sweats, which is but little, and is received in a skin in the matrix,
which at the birth is cast out.
Pages:
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370