De Secretis Mulierum et Virtutibus Herbarum, Lapidum et Animalium

Here he raises a fourth doubt, and it is resolved of itself; however, there is a doubt regarding what has been said and what is yet to be said: from which members original: "membris"; in medieval medicine, this refers to the organs or parts of the body in men is the sperm separated, and similarly the menstrual fluid in women, taking "menstrual fluid" original: "menstruum"; the author here uses this term to refer to the "female seed" or reproductive fluid released during arousal, which medieval Galenic medicine believed was necessary for conception alongside male sperm to mean the seed that is emitted during intercourse?

It seems that it comes from all the members, because the fetus resembles the parents in all its members. But to the contrary, if this were so, it would follow that a person who is imperfect in their members for example, someone missing a limb or having a birth defect would generate an offspring imperfect in those same members, which is false. This falsity is evident through experience: if a father were blind, lame, or mutilated in a finger, he would not always generate a child like himself. This logical consequence is clear in itself.

It must be said that during intercourse, those seeds are separated from the four principal members, scil. original: "scilicet"; a Latin contraction meaning "namely" or "that is to say" from the brain, the heart, the liver, and the womb in women, and from the testicles in men, and consequently from the other members, but not from the other parts of the body primarily. Through this, the objection is answered as to why the fetus resembles the parents. I say that the principal organs suffice, insofar as they influence the other members, and the seeds are especially separated and distinguished from the brain. Hence we see those who engage in much intercourse suffer from headaches, and especially become dried out in their members and greatly weakened in their sight. Medieval physicians believed that "seed" was a highly refined substance derived from the body's "vital moisture"; over-indulgence was thought to deplete the moisture in the brain and eyes, leading to physical decline.

On the Formation of the Fetus.

CHAPTER II.

Having seen these things, we must return to the formation of the fetus in the womb. The first matter received in the womb has the nature of milk for the first six days.