ON THE SECRETS OF WOMEN.

A 6

...and disposes [the matter]; likewise, the male sperm alters the woman’s menses original: "menstruum"; in this context, the maternal contribution to the physical substance of the child. into the form of a human being. They [the Philosophers] propose this because they observe that when the father’s contribution is "corrupted" original: "corrupto"; in medieval Aristotelian physics, "corruption" does not mean "rot," but rather the transformation or dissolution of one thing so that another—the generation of the fetus—can begin., the generation of a human occurs through the transformation of the woman’s seed. Therefore, one must posit an efficient cause whereby, once the father’s seed is transformed, the woman’s menses are changed. And because the final purpose and the physical effect coincide, the male sperm does not actually become part of the material substance.

But the Physicians argue the opposite: namely, that a human being is formed from the most noble matter. Therefore, although the seed entering the matter of the female fetus is a surplus of the second digestion second digestion: the stage of the medieval digestive process where nutrients are converted into blood and bodily fluids, the male sperm is more perfectly "cooked" Ancient and medieval medicine viewed the creation of bodily fluids as a process of "coction" or ripening by heat. and digested. Thus, it must enter into the very matter and substance of the fetus, for it is observed that a fetus sometimes resembles the father in the genitals and many other features; this would not occur unless the sperm entered the fetus’s physical substance.

Furthermore, the Physicians say that within the male seed there exists a certain generative spirit spiritus gignens: a vital, formative force believed to animate matter. that penetrates the entire mass of the joined seeds. This spirit is the formatter of all the limbs: just as a blacksmith shapes iron with a hammer, so does this spirit shape and soften all the limbs, and through this spirit, the active efficient principle is maintained.

However, the Philosophers maintain that the male sperm evaporates like a vapor, because the womb matrix: the uterus. is a highly porous organ. Thus, after the fetus is formed, heat causes the male sperm to evaporate and withdraw from the womb, while the fetus receives nourishment through the pores. This is also evident because the womb is made of skin, and every skin in an animal is porous; otherwise, sweat could not exit without causing pain—which is clearly false, for the pores open in heat, and then sweat [exits]...