De Secretis Mulierum et Virtutibus Herbarum, Lapidum et Animalium

The Booklet of Albertus Magnus

Page 12

...exits, and then also the hairs emerge through the pores. Note: an embryo is a kind of fleshy mass gathered from these seeds, and this fleshy mass is altered for the formation of the fetus.

Having considered these things and having accepted a portion of the opinion of Aristotle or the Physicians, we must see by what means and how those seeds are received within the woman. Thus, when a woman has engaged in sexual intercourse original: "coïtu" with a man, she similarly at the same time emits her seed original: "menstruum"; in medieval biology, this refers to the "female sperm" or the blood provided by the mother as the material for the child. into which the man emits his sperm, so that these two seeds meet together in the woman’s vulva. One begins to be mixed with the other, and then the woman conceives. Indeed, "to conceive" is the term used when these two seeds are received in the womb matrix: the medieval term for the uterus, viewed as the "mother-place" or mold for the fetus and in the specific place appointed by nature for the fetus. After those two seeds have been received, the woman’s womb closes on every side like a purse, so that it can lose none of the received seed. And when the womb has been closed on all sides in this way, there occurs a retention of the menses in the woman.

Here the author examines the formation of the fetus. He does this first, and second he offers a noteworthy point: namely, it should be noted that if the man emits sperm before the woman emits her seed, then conception does not occur. Likewise, if both emit at the same time but the seeds are not well-matched or well-disposed, conception will not happen—for instance, if the man’s seed is not sufficiently warm. Therefore, those who have intercourse rarely produce children quickly, because they are very warm Medieval medicine taught that "heat" was the primary force of vitality and fertility; infrequent activity was thought to allow this vital heat to build up.. Note that "vulva" is so named as if from "gate" original: "valva"; a folding door or gate., because it is the door to the belly, and its furthest part is called the membrane, because the part of the anus...