The Text of Scripture runs
thus. And Judah said unto
Onan, Go in unto thy Brother’s
Wife, and Marry her, and raise up
Seed to thy Brother. And Onan
knew that the Seed should not be his;
and it came to pass, when he went in
unto his Brother’s Wife, that he spilled
it on the Ground, lest that he should
24give Seed to his Brother. 38. Chap.
Genesis, Verses 8, 9, 10.
Though some Authors seem to
make Onan’s chief Crime to be
Self-pollution, yet the learned Bishop
Patrick, in his Commentary upon
the 38th Chapter of Genesis, is of a
contrary Opinion, viz.
‘Verse 8. Go in unto thy Brother’s
Wife. This was an ancient
Custom in force by the Law of
Moses, which only exacted what
had been formerly practis’d, viz.
that when a Man died without
issue, his next Brother should
Marry his Wife. Deut. 25. 5.
‘And raise up Seed to thy Brother;
is meant preserve thy Brother’s
Name and Family, by begetting
a Child, which may be accounted
his, and inherit his Estate.
For so the Law was, that the first
Born of such a Match, was not to
be look’d upon, as a Child of him
that begot him; but as his Brother’s,
25who was the Mother’s first
Husband; though all the following
Children were to be his own.
‘Verse 9. Onan knew that the
Seed should not be accounted his in
the first Born, but his Brothers.
And least the Child should be born
in the Name of his Brother; v. 10.
The Thing which he did displeased
the Lord. This made the Sin the
more heinous, that he acted against
the divine Promise made to Abraham,
concerning the multiplying
of his Seed.
‘The contract of Marriage was
so understood in those Days, that
if the Husband died without Issue,
the Woman was oblig’d to Marry
his next Brother, and as long as any
of his Brethren remain’d, they
were bound to Marry his Wife,
and preserve their Brother’s Memory,
or solemnly renounce, to
their very great Infamy. This
was so well known, that no new
contract was enjoyn’d in such a
26Case; for the first Husband being
dead, she and the next Brother
were Man and Wife, without any
farther Agreement or Ceremony,
by Virtue of the Original Law.’
The learned Prelate in this Comment,
omits mentioning the spilling of
the Seed, but it may be rationally presum’d
he did it not so much out of a
regard to Modesty, as its being a
trifling part of the Charge against
Onan; since he determines Onan’s
great Crime to be his not complying
with the Law of Moses, in the
Marriage of his Brothers Wife; tho’
he adds, that his Sin was the more
heinous for his acting contrary to
the promise made to Abraham, in
relation to the multiplying of his
Seed.
What provok’d Onan to the
Breach of this Law, I take to be
evident, was his not being allow’d
the Reputation of begetting the first
Child on his Brothers Wife, which
27in all Marriages is attended with
more satisfaction, than any of the
future Progeny.
There might be other probable
Reasons given for Onan’s breaking
this Law of Moses; as envy to the
Memory of his deceas’d Brother,
dislike or prejudice to his Wife, &c.
But to Comment a little farther upon
the 38 Chapter of Genesis, in respect
to Onan’s Crime, it may not be
amiss to examine some preceding
Verses.
Verse. 2. And Judah saw there,
a Daughter of a certain Cananite,
whose Name was Shuah; and he
took her, and went in unto her.
And she conceiv’d, and bare a Son,
and he call’d his Name Er. By
this, and many other parts of the
Scripture it is apparent, that the
Words going in unto a Woman,
were meant in those times actual
Copulation, so that when Onan
went in unto his Brother’s Wife, it
must be constru’d, that he began
28the pleasure of Matrimony, though,
he did not perfect it by reason he spilt
his Seed on the Ground; that is,
he withdrew from his Brothers
Wife, and did not consummate the
Marriage; which displeas’d the Lord,
wherefore he slew him.
Agreeable to this in some measure,
is the modern Custom amongst
Persons of distinction in their amorous
Intrigues; who after they are
actually ingag’d in the pleasures of
Venus, by a sudden ereption of the
Privities, separate from the Female
the instant they feel the Titillation
in the extreme Parts, and before the
Emissio Seminis; to prevent the effects
of a teeming Womb, which would
not only occasion a considerable expence,
but expose the Female, and
very much impair the Beauty of her
Form. And of this nature, I take
the Sin of Onan to be, in relation
to his spilling his Seed on the Ground,
though not committed with the same
design.
29These particulars fully shew, that
Onan’s Sin was not Self-pollution,
as laid down by the Author of
Onania, and for that he had the
Assistance of his Brother’s Wife. I
come now to the Sin of Self-pollution,
and begin with the Causes.
I am by no means of the Author’s
Opinion, that Self-pollution is entirely
occasion’d by Ignorance, Secrecy,
Shame, or other particular
Causes mention’d in his Treatise, as
I have already observ’d, with my
Reasons confuting the same; to
which I may add, this farther, that
few, or no Persons can be ignorant,
that Self-pollution is a Sin. I look upon
it to be more a natural Distemper occasion’d
by a vicious ferment of the
Blood, than to proceed from any of the
Causes set forth by the Author of Self-pollution,
and that this may be agitated
by lewd Company, Obscene Pictures,
&c. It is impossible, that ignorance can
increase this Crime, when it is esteem’d
the Mother of Devotion, and in my
30Opinion, the firmest limits to Chastity.
Without some experience, no
considerable progress can be made,
and ’tis the highest inconsistency to
call an experienc’d Person ignorant.
Other Causes of Self-pollution, I
take it may be justly attributed to
the very great hazards Young Gentlemen
are constantly expos’d to with
Women of the Town (not that I
allow any unlawful desires) for tho’
the Crime of Self-pollution be in its
nature heinous, and the Consequences
are to be fear’d by all considerate Persons,
yet the Sin doth not in any respect
seem so dreadful to vigorous Youth,
as that of Whoredom, and the Calamities
attending, are generally more
remote in prospect. A Clap or a
Pox will immediately ensue in the most
terrible manner (the Beauty of the
Front, and the most valuable parts
of the Body, being particularly in
danger) in the case of Copulation
with an unsound Woman, when the
consequences of Self-pollution only
31steal on you by degrees, and will
be a considerable space before the
direful Effects shall be visible. This
I take to be a principal Cause of Self-pollution,
especially where Persons
have suffer’d in their Intrigues with
lewd Women; and what encreases
it in this case, is the pernicious Salt
of a transmissive Nature, oftentimes
remaining in the center of the Blood,
upon taking unbounded quantities of
Mercurial Preparations; some Young
Gentlemen have confess’d to me, that
after the cure of the secret Disease by
Quack-physicians, their Inclinations
have encreas’d, with the number of
their venerial Maladies, which can
proceed from no other cause than a
pollution of the Blood occasion’d by
the Dregs of ill prepar’d Medicines.
I have known two very remarkable
Cases of this kind in the Country.
One was a half witted young Fellow,
being with artifice entic’d to the act of
Fornication with an unclean Woman,
who after a cure of the Disease he
32receiv’d by her, was so strangely addicted
to Self-pollution, that at length
there was far greater difficulty to
preserve his impair’d Carcass, than
in curing of his nauseous Distemper,
notwithstanding, he had it with severity:
He would sit down upon
the Floor, and with Eyes lift up violate
Nature in a seeming Transport,
and oftentimes repeat this unnatural
Sin, with an uncommon pleasure:
At last he confess’d it, and on a private
Examination declar’d, that he
never had any inclination to Self-pollution,
before he had receiv’d his
venerial Injury, and largely taken of
the Surgeons Preparations, tho’ this
Woman was not the first that he had
carnally known. The other Case
within my knowledge, was, that of a
rakish Young Gentleman, who having
run through his Fortune in Extravagancies,
particularly on the fair Sex,
when he could no longer splendidly
subsist, or afford the expence of unlawful
Pleasures, being perpetually tormented
33with a violent inclination
to Women; at last after a long
continuance of Self-pollution, he
couragiously Castrated himself, as the
only cure of his vicious Appetite. But
the next News I heard, as indeed
I expected, was, that he had with
equal resolution shot himself through
the Head.
’Tis very certain, that Persons in
mean Circumstances, are thereby in
many Respects render’d unable to
pursue their darling Vices; but
where the Principles are vitiated, or
the Passions prevalent, there is no
Shield of Self-defence against ill
Actions: The Person wholly void
of Honesty, will commit Thefts and
Robberies upon the Persons of others
to enrich himself; and the lustful
Person will satisfy his Brutal inclinations
by Friction, or other abominable
Enjoyments, for want of ability,
to purchase more acceptable Crimes:
And as the want of Circumstances
is many times a cause of Self-pollution,
34so the Person in possession of a
large Fortune, is frequently guilty
of the Sin of Whoredom, accompanied
with more dreadful Consequences,
and Nature only, under the
severest Discipline, must in all Cases
regulate the lustful Appetite.
The design of providence, for the
preservation of Mankind in a State
of Innocence, is visible throughout
all the works of the Creation; there
is no condition of Life, but a Person
may go thro’ free from Guilt and Infamy;
and particularly in Uncleanness,
Nocturnal-pollution proceeding
meerly from Nature without force,
is certainly intended to correct lustful
Inclinations; but when it arises from
vicious contemplations, and impure
Ideas conceiv’d in the Mind, it is a
sinful Act, though not equally criminal
to Self-pollution.
Pollution by the hand of a Woman,
is always attended with more
fatal consequences to the Man than
any other; the impure Thoughts
35are more strongly impress’d by the
presence of the Female, than
its possible in her absence, and the
imaginations so heighten’d by her
Touch, as to commit the greater violence
on Nature. By this, the parts
are more considerably strain’d, and
their natural Strength and Vigour
abated. This naturally leads me to
the various ways of Self-pollution in
wanton Females, which are so intolerable,
that Modesty forbids a
particular Description. I shall only
mention, that a Lascivious Woman,
by the use of a pleasurable Toy, and
an injection of Milk, or other Moisture,
may possibly continue Self-pollution
for a longer space than copulation
with a Man, no Spirits being drain’d
or Strength exhausted by the means
herein applied; and ’tis reported
that some lewd Females will commence
this vile practice, before their
Privities are fledg’d with Maturity.
36To demonstrate the consequences
of a lewd Conversation in regard
to the Crime of Self-pollution, I
shall here present you with an ample
account of a Club of Young Gentlemen,
I have been inform’d,
was not many Years ago establish’d
in, or near Long-Acre; the most
abominable Nursery of Lewdness
and Debauchery, perhaps, that ever
was heard of in any Country, unless
it be in the remote parts of Europe
amongst the vile Sects of incestuous
Adamites, whom Histories
mention, when the Words increase
and multiply, were repeated in their
religious Service (which was very
common) they immediately extinguish’d
their Candles, and promiscuously
mix’d in carnal Enjoyments.
This Club ’tis said, was held thrice
a Week at the House of a noted
Victualler, who was a Stranger to
the Actions of his Guests for a considerable
time; they had a Supper
and plenty of strong Liquors constantly
37provided to their no small
Expence; they were govern’d by a
President of the Night, who was
commonly elected after Supper, and
the whole Assembly struggled for
this Honour: The method of Election
was thus; every one according
to his Seniority advanc’d
himself in turn upon a high Joint-stool
plac’d against a Wall, and with
a sort of Emulation, there practis’d
Self-pollution as long, as his strength
would permit, and he that repeated the
Sin the greatest number of times,
was immediately declar’d their Chief
for the next time of meeting: And
to facilitate their unnatural Pleasures;
their Eatings generally consisted of
strong Soops, Gravies, Fish, Jellies,
and other provocatives to Lust; and
their whole Conversation turn’d on
their Excellency and Perfection in this
most detestable Crime. This Account
I have had of this Club, with
this Addition, that a Member of it
might be known by his spindle Shanks,
38fallen Jaws, and pale wither’d Countenance,
but as it is not within my
own knowledge, I cannot aver it to
be fact, and to me it seems so monstrous
as not to be credited in the
whole, what ever it may in part;
however I thought fit to insert it,
to render the Crime the more odious
and hateful to all.
And to this I may add other pernicious
Consequences proceeding from
this Crime, as an irrecoverable Impotency,
which renders a Man inanimate,
intoxicates his reason, and
debases Nature, so as to occasion the
Diabetis and other fatal lingering Diseases;
for the aliment of the Blood
is so far vitiated and impair’d by a
frequent repetition of this Sin, that
it is wholly unable to perform its
office of Circulation with any regularity.
Thus I have detected the several
Fallacies, Inconsistencies, and Impositions
of the Author of Onania;
prov’d that he is mistaken in the
39Crime of Onan; that the design,
of his Book was to encourage Lewdness,
and thereby promote the sale
of destructive Medicines, which
many times occasion a conflux of
Humours, and incurable Diseases;
shewn that Quack Preparations promote
the very Sin he with views
of Interest pretends to discountenance,
set forth the real Crime of
Onan, and the Causes and fatal
Consequences of Self-pollution: I
now proceed to the heinousness of
the Sin.
40
CHAP. II. The Sin of Self-Pollution , the means to avoid it, and to attain Chastity .
The Learned Ostervald treating
of the several Species of
Uncleanness, says it is easy to discern
‘that impure Actions are forbidden
for two Reasons. First, because
they are likely means of carrying
Men to the grosser Crime: People
don’t ordinarily arrive at the
height of Wickedness all at once,
but by certain Steps and Degrees.
They begin with what they think
41lawful; they accustom themselves
to violate the rules of Chastity in
such Instances, as they perswade
themselves, can have no great hurt
in them: But then from these lesser
Offences, they proceed to others,
whose Wickedness they cannot but
be sensible of; and so at length
they fall into the more horrid
Crime. But in the second place,
though we should never come thus
far, and our unchaste Actions should
never push us on to the utmost
Licentiousness, they however defile
the Soul; they increase the
inclination to Uncleanness, and
withdraw from God; as a very
little Observation will inform those,
who allow themselves in these sort
of Liberties.
‘To impure Actions, may be subjoin’d
such Looks, as are contrary
to Chastity, inasmuch, as a Man
may be guilty also of Sin in this
respect, whether in beholding such
Objects, or in reading such Books,
42as may be apt to beget unlawful
Desires. It is an undoubted Truth,
that impure Passions are chiefly
rais’d and inflam’d by the sight,
and that it is impossible to continue
Chast without a diligent care to
govern the Eyes, and to turn them
away from whatsoever might seduce
the Heart. Let but any one enquire
into the Objects I am speaking
of, and the Impressions they
are apt to make upon the Mind,
and this will presently convince
him of the Evil and Danger of
suffering his Eyes to dwell upon
them: These Objects pollute the
Imagination, filling it with lustful
Thoughts; and it is only through
the Temptation of sensuality, that
any can fix their Eyes upon them,
or take any manner of pleasure in
them. The holy Scriptures sufficiently
caution against these undue
Liberties; it was by the sight
that David was entic’d to commit
Iniquity: And Job, who liv’d at
43a time when moral Chastity was
less known, than it has been since,
had yet learn’d, that the principal
Duty of Chastity was to regulate
the Sight.’
There are many Things conducive
to Chastity, as the pious example
of Superiours, a Godly Conversation,
Books of Devotion, a firm Resolution,
Temperance, &c. And at
all Seasons, Persons ought to use
their utmost Endeavours for overcoming
their inclinations to Impurity;
but there are some times, and
opportunities, wherein it is done far
more easily than at others. In matters
of Salvation, as well, as in all
others, a great deal depends upon
a choice of proper Seasons: No-body,
but must have found, that he is
not always equally well disposed:
Upon some occasions a thing will
appear almost insuperable, which yet
will not be so at another time: Take
a Man given to any particular passion,
44and in the instant, when he is
seiz’d and transported with it: All
you can say to the contrary, will
make no Impression upon him; yet
take the same Person out of his passion,
when his Blood is cold,
and you will see him very different.
The Impure have their intervals,
and these longer or shorter, and
more or less frequent, according as
the Habit they have contracted is
stronger or weaker; there are some,
over whom this passion has so great
an Ascendency, that they are almost
perpetually employ’d by it; yet such
as these have some more favourable
Moments, wherein they are capable
of reflection, and wherein their Passion
allows them some respite without
opposition.
But there is nothing to be done
without Resolution and Confidence;
and we may be assur’d, that God’s
enjoining of Chastity, is an incontestable
proof, that People may attain
it: It is by no means to be presum’d,
45that our great Creator, who
is all Justice, would under pain of
Damnation command the observance
of such Duties, as he knows to be
entirely out of our power: No, there
are means of performing what he injoins,
not attended with unconquerable
difficulties: And as it is he, who
has ordered these means; so has he
engaged himself to second them
with his blessing, whenever we
commence a sincere obedience to his
Laws.
It would be strange to find any
make a Question of this; but it must
be granted, that as this Duty is not
to be acquir’d with equal ease at all
times, so it is not alike easy to all
sorts of Persons; and some find considerable
trouble in it; and so it is
in all the other Duties of Morality:
There are some, who whether from
their natural Tempers and Constitutions,
or from the bad Habits
they have contracted, are violently
press’d on to certain Passions, and
46must encounter Self-difficulties before
they can make the least conquest
over them: An eagerness of Temper,
and fullness of Heat, with an
ill Habit too long indulg’d, will
render Persons so prone to anger,
that they must be very diligent and
watchful, and always upon their
guard, or they will not be able to
avoid it; but it will very ill become
these to offer this for their excuse;
for by this means, there is no Person
but would be able to vindicate
himself: So in a temporal Sense,
were Criminals allow’d to plead a
strong inclination and proneness of
Nature, to the committing of
Crimes, there would be no such thing
as Justice or Government in the
World.
Tho’ many Persons are strongly
press’d to Impurity, yet it cannot
be concluded, from hence, that there
are no methods of Preservation from
this Passion: If they brought themselves
into this State by their own
47fault, and for want of using the
means proper in order to Chastity,
this is no Evidence that these means
are not sufficient for their purpose:
The Case is the same here, as if a
Man had fallen into a dangerous Indisposition
for not using certain Preservatives
or Remedies, which does
not shew that he had no means of
preventing his Sickness, but only
that he did not make a right use of
them: Those who are entangled in
this dangerous Passion, and whose
return to Chastity appears very difficult,
may yet be assur’d, that they
may recover themselves: It is true,
they may find it troublesome at first,
but then they ought to remember,
that it is but reasonable for them to
cross their own Inclinations, and
bear with some inconvenience to preserve
themselves from fatal ruin: The
trouble will daily lessen, and what
at first seem’d insuperable, will become
at length pleasant in the performance.
There are certainly means
48of being Chast, and whosoever
makes the Trial, will quickly find
the benefit of them: As for those
that will not use them, who will do
nothing to fortify themselves, will
not keep out of the way of Temptations,
nor cross their vicious Inclinations
in any thing; I confess it is
my Opinion, that they will never attain
any degree of Chastity, but then
they have none but themselves to blame
for it; it is their own fault, and not
any defect in Religion, that they are
in this Condition: And to such the
Almighty has ordain’d a proper Remedy,
whereby to avoid the excesses
of the Flesh, which is Marriage.
Meditation is an excellent means
to Purity, it excites and recalls into
the Mind, divers good Reflections,
and abates the force of Temptations:
There is no matter of Religion and
Piety, which may not be revolv’d
in our Minds to advantage; and
there are many particular Meditations,
that have a peculiar Virtue
49for dissuading from pollution; such
as the presence of our Creator, Death,
Resurrection, Judgment, &c. The
thoughts of Death, which puts an
end to all our Enjoyments here,
must necessarily abate the allurements
of sensual Pleasures. The
thoughts of our Resurrection will
force us to have a regard to Purity:
And the thoughts of our Saviour’s
Sufferings, are a powerful Motive,
not to seek our own ease, and the
satisfaction of our Senses in this
World.
One of the chief means of defence
against Temptations to Impurity, is
a distrust of our selves. This distrust
proceeds from an Opinion and
Sense of our own Weakness, and
thereby a fear of being surpriz’d and
ensnar’d by Temptations; distrust
will produce Vigilance, which is a
second means of defence against impure
Thoughts. Persons ought to
be very exact and scrupulous, as to
every thing that leads to Impurity,
50and not to take too great liberty
under any vain pretences. Mortification
and Exercise are very good
guards against Pollution; Idleness
makes People wanton and vicious,
and High-feeding very much heightens
unlawful Desires. Curiosity is
frequently a cause of the wanderings
of the Mind and Heart; and a desire
of satisfying it, proceeding from
a secret Passion, being a great occasion
of Pollution, this also is to be
guarded against: And lastly, when
Persons are under any manner of
Temptations, the instant they are
sensible of impure Thoughts in the
Soul, they should be strenuously resisted.
The first reception of impure
Thoughts into the Soul, shews
them to be pleasing to it; and the
longer they are entertain’d there,
the more this Pleasure encreases;
and when this Pleasure once prevails,
the Man is no longer in a capacity
to defend himself: And there is no
surer way to prevent a Conflagration,
51than by thoroughly extinguishing
the first spark of Fire, on its immediate
appearance.
Thus much for the means to avoid
Impurity, and to attain Chastity, I
shall conclude this part of my Treatise,
with what Mr. Ostervald observes
of the Sin of Uncleanness in
general, and with a few Reflections
of my own, which may be of
service to those, who make Chastity
a difficulty. ‘All Uncleanness is
a palpable Violation of our Baptismal
Covenant, wherein we have
solemnly oblig’d our selves to renounce
the Flesh (that is to say,
all sensuality and voluptuousness)
as well as the World and the Devil.
For there is no living up to
this Profession and Obligation,
without being continually upon
our guard against all those sinful
Lusts, which we have thus renounc’d.
And indeed, what an
affront is it to God, and what vile
52Treachery and breach of Covenant,
when Persons have thus given
up their Names to Christ, and
promis’d to obey his holy Laws;
and in particular, to abstain from
all Impurity, if they shall yet
draw back, and professing to know
the Almighty shall in works deny
him, living in wantonness and
unlawful Pleasures, like the Gentiles,
who knew him not, or rather
in such detestable Lewdnesses,
as the Wiser amongst these would
have abominated? We cannot
doubt, but that we are all strictly
engag’d to cleanse our selves from
Filthiness, both of Flesh and
Spirit, and to perfect Holiness.
And what a monstrous Incongruity
must it be, for such to indulge
themselves in any carnal and sensual
Immoralities, in direct opposition
to the Vow, so solemnly made
against them! This must necessarily
argue a great Stupidity, and
regardlessness of their Duty, which
53is sufficiently blameable in any,
but in Christians, who pretend
to tread in their Saviour’s Steps,
and to obey all his Commandments,
is most exceedingly provoking.’
Though the Sin of Uncleanness
be heinous in it self, as appears by
what has been said, and is oftentimes
attended with a train of Crimes,
as Lying, Quarrelling, and others of
a flagitious Nature, yet are many Persons
so estrang’d to Religion, and
even to rational Ethicks, as to be entirely
supine and negligent in the
suppressing of Impure Cogitations;
and on the contrary entertain them
with indulgence; so that by degrees,
illimitable Passions are establish’d,
and the tide of Impurity, at last
grows so strong and rapid, that it
is not to be repell’d; whence all manner
of Evils succeed.
Having Theologically discuss’d the
several particulars relating to Self-pollution,
and other Uncleanness:
54I come now to my last head, treating
of Generation, and the sensitive
Parts effecting it; but I would by no
means have my Reader think, that
I examine these particulars with a
design to excite Persons to Lewdness,
when my Intentions are only to
shew the fineness and Beauty of
the Parts, whereby will appear how
easily they may be violated and
impair’d by an unnatural use.
55
CHAP. III. A Dissertation upon Generation ; and of the Parts administring thereunto. — Of the Privy Parts of a Woman . — Of the Generation of Man .
I shall begin with the instruments
of Generation in Men. All the
parts of Generation merit the Title
of noble Parts, as well as the Brain
and the Heart; and some Authors
give them the preference before
the other Parts of the Body, upon
this consideration, that they preserve
the Species, and the others only keep
up the Individuum.
56The Yard is call’d by Physicians
the Membrum Virile, because it distinguishes
a Man from a Woman:
It is plac’d at the lower and external
part of the Abdomen, and is fasten’d
to the Os Pubis. This Situation is
the more commodious, for that it
does not annoy any other part in
the time of enjoyment.
It has a very peculiar Substance,
containing several Vessels, Muscles,
Nerves, Arteries, &c. Its Skin is
finer than that of any other part,
to give it a more exquisite sense. It
has no Fat; for if it encreas’d in
Flesh in proportion with the rest of
the Body; it would not only be of
too large a size, but become soft,
unactive, and insensible; and would
cloud the Sense necessary to excite
the Passion.
The Yard performs its motions by
virtue of four Muscles; two for Erection,
and two for Ejaculation.
These last squeeze the seminal Vesicles,
and convey the Seed into the Urethra,
57from whence it sallies out with great
force: It is divided into its Body, and
two Ends; as for its two extremities
one of them is call’d the Glans, or
head of the Yard; the other which
is fastened to the Belly, is call’d the
Root, and is surrounded with Hair,
especially upon its upper part, which
is call’d the Pubis.
The Glans, or head of the Membrum
Virile, is the only fleshy part
in the Yard; being soft and smooth,
to prevent its hurting the Matrix of
the Woman, and running in some
measure to a point to facilitate its
Entry: It is cover’d with a thin
Membrane, which renders it sensible
of the Titillation occasion’d by rubbing
upon the Matrix; and in the
time of Erection, the Spirits and
Blood repair to it vigorously, when
it swells and starts out of an uncommon
length, assuming a lively red
Colour; but upon the retreat of the
Blood, it flaggs and becomes pale
and shrivell’d.
58The prepuce is the loose Skin at
the utmost end of the Yard, which
stretches out and covers the Nut,
or draws down, to uncover it, as there
is occasion: In time of Erection,
it will draw down the Yard a considerable
way, the easier to enter
in Copulation: ’Tis tied under the
Nut, with a fine Ligament call’d
the Bridle, which must be cut when
it is to short, and draws the orifice
of the Nut downwards, by reason
it hinders the Ejaculation of the
Seed in a straight Line. The Prepuce
enlarges the pleasure in Copulation,
especially of the Women.
The Yard has two Cavernous Bodies,
one on each side, taking their
rise from the lower part of the
Os Pubis, and the Hip-bone, and
these cavernous Bodies, or Nerves
have two Substances, external and
internal, the external one is thick,
hard, and nervous, and the internal
one, is spungy, thin, and fungous.
59The Erection of the Yard is owing
to these cavernous Bodies, which
being fill’d with Spirits, swell and
extend themselves: And the arterious
Blood being poured into the
cavernous Bodies effects the distension
of the Yard, as its lankness is
occasion’d by sending of that Blood
through the Hypogastrick Veins.
The spungy Substance of the cavernous
Bodies, stops the Blood for some
time, whereby an erection is forc’d.
In all Enjoyments, the animal
Spirits are rouz’d by fancy, which
strikes the Idea of Pleasure, and
when the Spirits are thus rais’d, they
instantly repair to the Nerves of the
Organs of Generation, and puff them
up on mixing with the Blood, convey’d
thither by the Arteries; and
upon the mixture of these two, a
Fermentation succeeds, whereby an
Erection is effected.
The Urethra is a nervous Passage,
extending from the neck of
the Bladder, to the end of the Yard.
60It is a common passage for the Seed
and Urine.
The Testicles are so call’d from
the Latin Word Testes, as they witness
the vigour of a Man. They
are seated without the Abdomen,
at the root of the Yard; and enclos’d
in the Scrotum, which is a
Purse consisting of two Membranes;
these Vessels do not prepare or form
the Seed; but their office is to import
the Blood from which ’tis separated.
The Testicles are of an oval Figure,
about the size of a Pigeons
Egg, and in some larger: They are
wrapt up in five Coats or fine Skins,
viz. The Scrotum, Dartos, Eritroides,
Elitroides, and the Albuginea; the
two first are call’d common, and the
three last are call’d proper. The
outer Coat is shrivell’d and encompass’d
with thin Hair. The Substance
of the Testicle, is white, soft,
and loose, compos’d of several small
Seminals Vessels, and Capillaries,
which are the Branches of the Arteries,
61Veins, Nerves, and Lymphatick
Vessels.
There are two Muscles call’d Cremasters,
which keep the Stones suspended;
and if these happen to be
stronger than ordinary, they’ll move
the Testicles of themselves.
The most volatile part of the
Blood is strain’d out from the rest by
the Glandulous Pith of the Testicle,
which gives passage only to the finest
Particles, and obliges the rest to return
to the Veins. This part of the
Blood thus filtrated, is rais’d to a just
degree of perfection by the length
of the Pipes, through which it passes;
and what adds to its refinement is
the windings of these Pipes, which
procure a mutual disunion, by whirling
about. When the Seed is prepar’d,
it is lodg’d in the expansion of the
Vasa Deferentia; being first put in
motion by the Heat of the Vein call’d
the Spermatick Artery; and when
the Imagination is enflam’d by amorous
62Thoughts, it suddenly breaks
forth.
The Vasa Deferentia are Vessels
seated partly in the Scrotum, and
partly in the Abdomen; they convey
the Seed by drops to the seminal
Vesicles; the two extremities of the
Vasa Deferentia are compar’d to a
Bunch of Grapes, and Guts of Birds.
Two small Ducts of about an
Inch in length, spring from these
Vesicles; they are broad near the
Vesicles, but dwindle as they approach
to the Urethra, which they
perforate. These Ducts are call’d
Ejaculatory Vessels, because in the
heat of Action, they throw the Seed
of the Vesicles into the Urethra,
and they are the chief Subjects of
the pleasure attending Ejaculation.
These small Ducts have ten or
twelve Orifices, opening to the Urethra,
each of them being shut by a
small Caruncle to prevent the continual
efflux of Humour, which has
the precedency of the Seed. This
63is alledg’d to be the seat of a Clap,
by reason volatile Salts fastning near,
occasion Ulcers that corrode the Caruncles,
and thereupon the Orifices
of the Ducts discharge their slimy
Liquor.
The Prostatæ are two Glandulous
spungy Bodies, seated at the root of
the Yard, by the head of the Urethra,
and furnish’d with Arteries
from the Pudendæ; their use is to
make a secretion of slimy oily Liquor
out of the Blood, to reserve
it for some time in its Vesicles, and
to squeeze it out by degrees, thro’
the Pipes of the small Ducts, to the
Urethra.
’Tis reported, that some Persons
have three Testicles, and that others
are so slenderly provided, as to
have but one; tho’ either of the
cases happens very rarely. And Animals
which have their Testicles
situated within, are always
accounted more lascivious than others.
64There are four spermatick Vessels
belonging to the Privy Parts of a Man,
two whereof are Arteries, and the
other two Veins. The two spermatick
Arteries spring from the Trunk
of the Aorta; and run obliquely
upon the Ureters, and along the
Muscle Posas, ’till they arrive at the
Groin, where they are receiv’d by
a production of the Peritonæum, and
so conducted to the Testicles.
The two spermatick Veins branch
out from the Testicles towards the
Vena Cava. The Right extends
it self straight to the Trunk of the
Cava; but the Left terminates in
the emulgent Vein. In their progress,
they are join’d by small Veins
from the Peritonæum, and the
neighbouring Muscles, which are
loaded with the superfluous Blood of
those parts, in order to lodge it in
the Cava.
The spermatick Vessels are larger
in Men than Women; and in both
Sexes the Arteries are always
65stronger than the Veins. For the
use of these Vessels, the Blood runs
in the two Arteries straight to the
Testicles, each of them dividing into
two small Branches, the better
to penetrate its Substance, by entring
at several places, and to procure an
exact separation of the seminal Particles,
that accompany the Arterious
Blood. And when this is perfected,
the remainder of the Blood enters
the Branches of the Veins, in order
to return to the Cava.
The Valves in the Cavity of the
Veins are plac’d at certain Intervals,
in order to prevent the Arterious
Blood from falling down. They are
serviceable in promoting the ascent of
the Blood, and their natural Disposition
conducts it to the Vena Cava.
To pursue the method I have hitherto
observ’d, I shall begin my
66Description of the Privities of a
Woman, with the external Parts.
The external Orifice is commonly
call’d the Pudendum; ’tis compos’d
of several parts, as the Pubes, the
Mons Veneris, the Lips, and the
great Slit.
The Pubes is seated on the forepart
of the Share-bone, just above
the Pudendum; and to keep off the
annoyance that might arise from the
hardness of the Bones in the amorous
Adventure, it is rais’d and consists
of Fat, which serves as a Cushion.
Mons Veneris, rises like a little
Hill about the great Lips, and
is cover’d, as well as the Pubes,
with a pretty good quantity of rough
curling Hair, which begins to spring
when the Female enters her Thirteenth
or Fourteenth Year: It is
seated a little lower than the Pubes.
The great Labia, or great Lips,
descend from the Mons Veneris, and
meet in the Perinæum; they consist
of doubled Skin, Fat and spungy
67Flesh; they are cover’d with Hair,
but it is not so strong, as that of the
Pubes and Mons Veneris. In Girls
they are firm, but in those who have
been enjoy’d, they are flaggy.
The great Slit is the space between
the two Lips; it is call’d the
great Slit, as being much larger
than the entry of the Neck of the
Womb.
Upon separating the Thighs, and
drawing aside the two Lips, are discover’d
two soft and spungy Excrescences
call’d Nymphæ; they resemble
the Thrills, that hang under
a Cock’s Throat; and their Colour is
red, like that of a Cock’s Comb;
their Substance is partly fleshy, and
partly membranous, consisting of the
doubled, and the inner Skin of the
Great Labia. The Nymphæ conduct
forth the Urine; and of Virgins are
so vigorous, that they discharge their
Water with a Noise like hissing.
Above the Nymphæ within the
great Cleft is situated the Clitoris,
68a long round and glandulous Body.
This is said to be the principal seat
of Pleasure, being endow’d with an
exquisite Sense. In the heat of Enjoyment,
it swells like unto a Mans
Yard on an Erection, by virtue
of the Blood and Spirits, that
croud into it. For this reason it is
call’d the Female Yard, and indeed,
it appears like unto that of a Man
in many particulars. This is the
part for Friction.
There are two Cavernous Nerves
coming from the Hip-bone, call’d
the Legs of the Clitoris; and there
are four Muscles in the Clitoris, two
for Erection, and two for Ejaculation;
the two first run from the
Hip-bone under the Cavernous
Nerves; and the two others call’d
Pudendi, take their rise from the
Sphincter of the Anus. These Muscles
serve to straighten the Orifice
of the Vagina. The Arteriæ Pudendæ
furnish the Clitoris with Blood,
and the Veins of that Name
69carry off the same Blood into the
Cava.
Under the Clitoris is the urinary
Passage, larger and shorter than that
of a Man, whereby Women send
forth their Urine with the greatest
violence and dispatch. This
Passage is surrounded with a Sphincter,
which is a Muscle that serves
to confine, or give passage for the
Urine at pleasure.
Between the fleshy Fibres of the
Urethra, and the Membrane of the
Vagina, lie the Prostates, having several
Channels which terminate in
the lower part of the Vulva, and
thereby discharge a slimy matter,
which mixes with the seed of the
Male, in the time of Enjoyment.
And between the two great Labia,
appear the four Caruncles call’d
Myrtiformes from the resemblance
they bear to Mirtle-berries. They
are small fleshy Eminences surrounding
the small Slit, made of the fleshy
Wrinkles of the Vagina, which render
70the Passage so much the straighter.
Their use is to heighten the mutual
pleasure of Enjoyment, by clinging
round and locking up the Yard; and
to facilitate the egress of the Child
by extension. They are reddish
firm and high in Virgins, and join’d
sideways to one another by small
Membranes, which tie them together,
and make them resemble a
Rose-bud half blown: But in other
Women they are separated by the entry
of the Yard.
The uniting of the Membranes of
the Carunculæ Myrtiformes, straighten
the Passage, and afford the true
mark of Virginity, (if there be
any such.) The pain of the first
Adventure is owing to the forcing
of the Passage through, and tearing
off those small Membranes; and a
Mans Inclinations being always
heighten’d in the first Nights Enjoyment,
the pain to the Female is encreas’d
by his ardent struggles; her
Virgin Sufferings augmenting with
71his affection: But in some Females
the Caruncles are rang’d in such a
manner, that the Yard may enter
without violence, so that there is no
certain Evidence of a Maiden-head.
Some Anatomists mention a Membrane
call’d Hymen, seated near the
Caruncles in the Vagina, which continues
stretched over the Passage, ‘till
the approach of a Man rends it;
and that this Hymen is a mark of
Virginity; but this is more imaginary
than proceeding from any Demonstration.
The Vagina is the neck of the
Womb, a round Passage between
the outer and inner Orifice, which
receives the Yard like a Sheath. In
Women that never bore Children,
this Neck is about four Inches long,
and an Inch and a half broad, but
after Child-bearing, its capacity cannot
be limited. It is nervous, and
somewhat spungy, consisting of two
Membranes; the Wrinkles of its
inner Membrane empower it to prolong,
72dilate or contract, in order to
fit the Yard, of any length or size,
and to afford a Passage to the Fœtus.
The Body and Neck of the Womb,
make the Figure of a Bottle turn’d
upside down, or rather a proud Flask.
The inner Orifice of the Womb,
is a perforation like the Head of a
Man’s Yard; ’tis the beginning of
a narrow Passage, which enlarges
to afford a way for whatever enters
or comes from the Womb; it opens
to receive the Seed in the moment
of Ejaculation; and upon Conception
shuts close, and so continues till towards
the last Month of the Woman’s
Reckoning: It is compos’d of
Membranes wrinkled and furl’d up,
capable of dilating themselves to a
great extent. This is the part which
gives the Woman pain in Child
Birth, the Orifice being small, and
opening but gradually, pursuant to
the Efforts of the Fœtus, which retards
the Birth. After the Child is
73past; this Orifice is lost, and the
whole Womb is only one large Cavity
reaching from the entry of its
Neck to the bottom; but this is of
very short duration, for these parts
very soon contract themselves like
an empty Purse, and resume their
natural posture. The Action of this
inner Orifice is purely natural.
The Substance of the bottom of
the Womb is Membranous, and about
a Fingers breadth thick, so that
it dilates its self very commodiously:
The inner Surface is interlac’d with
a great many small Pores, and little
Vessels which distil the menstrual
Blood in Monthly Quantities.
The Womb has Nerves, Arteries,
and Veins, dispers’d. The Nerves
give it a sense of Pleasure and Pain,
and a sympathy with all parts of the
Body: The Arteries and Veins are
call’d the Spermatick and Hypogastrick,
and consist of an infinite number
of Branches springing from all parts of
the Womb, exporting the Blood to the
74Trunk of the Vena Cava: The Womb
is sprinkled on all sides with Blood
imported by the Arteries. These
Arteries not only furnish the Womb
with a proper Nourishment, but also
pour in Blood upon the Placenta,
in order to be sent through the Navel
String to the Fœtus. When a
Woman is not with Child, this Blood
slips away thro’ the several Vessels
into the Cavity of the Womb, and
from thence it passes the Vagina
every Month. In teeming Women
these Branches sometimes discharge
Blood, when there is a greater
quantity than is necessary for the
Nourishment of the Child.
The spermatick Artery divides
it self into two Branches, one repairing
to the Testicle, and the
other to the Womb. It carries
Blood in one of its Branches to the
Testicle, in order to the secretion of
Seed, and by the other Branch it
furnishes the Womb with Blood for
its Nourishment, and the superfluous
75Blood is carried back by two
Branches of Veins, one from the
Testicle, and the others from the
Womb.
The Testicles of a Woman are
call’d Ovaria; and they differ in Situation,
Figure and Substance from
those of Men. They are seated
within the Abdomen upon the sides
of the bottom of the Womb. Some
Writers are of opinion, that Nature
plac’d the Testicles of Women
within to heat the Seed and work
it up to a degree of perfection: Others
tell us, that the design of this
Situation was to excite Women to
Generation. The use of the Testicles
is to filtrate the Seed and reserve
it; and to perform at once the office
of a Man’s Testicles.
Their Figure is broad and flat,
(seldom exceeding the Substance of
a small Pigeons Egg) they are tied
and held fast by some part of the
Flag of the Trumpet; and they are
knit to the spermatick Vessels, which
76grow larger after the Egg has taken
Root in the Womb. For their Substance,
they are a collection of Vesicles,
commonly took for Eggs. In
the Ovarium of a Woman are a Million
of fine small Blood Vessels dispers’d
upon the Tunicles; and small
imperceivable Glandules, that strain
out a white milky Liquor, which
attains perfection in the cavity of
these Vesicles, and then composes
the matter of the Egg, which includes
the Sperm that contains the
Fœtus.
The more volatile part of the Seed
of a Man passes through the Tubæ
to the Ovarium, in order to fecundate
the Eggs. The Tubæ are of the form
of a Trumpet, which gives them
their Name: They take rise from
the bottom of the Womb, and their
Orifice, which is continually open,
is lac’d round with small Membranes
like a Fringe, and is call’d the
Devil’s-bit, or the Flag of the
Trumpet. The office of the Tubæ,
77is to facilitate the descent of the Egg
into the Womb. The seminal Spirit
puts the Tubæ in motion, whereby
the jagged part embraces the Ovarium,
and the Egg fermented by the
Spirits of the Seed, insensibly, disengages
it self from the Ovarium, and
breaking its Membrane, enters the
Tubæ, in order to descend into the
Cavity of the Womb: And in case
of Twins, or where two or three
Children are Born; they always
spring from the like number of Eggs,
disengag’d from the Ovarium at the
same time. The extremities of the
Tubæ inserted into the bottom of the
Womb are call’d the Horns.
The Womb is cover’d with the
Peritonæum; and a peculiar Membrane
which lines the whole inside;
and the bottom is generally smooth
and even, but the Neck is always
furl’d. The Ligaments are nothing else
but Productions of the Peritonæum,
which come from the Loins, and
are inserted in the bottom of the
78Womb to prevent its falling down
upon the Neck: They likewise keep
the Womb from mounting too high:
When these Ligaments are unbent,
they resemble Bats Wings.
There are several Lymphatick Vessels
belonging to the Womb, which
creep along its outer part, and after
a reuniting into large parts, empty
themselves into the Cistern of the
Chyle.
The Womb has a short Neck, distinguish’d
by that Name from the
Vagina; it is the Passage which
reaches from the inner Orifice to the
principal Cavity of the Womb: It is
about an Inch long.
In the Cavity of the Womb, the
two Horns dilate themselves, and
form particular Bags, each of which
contains a Fœtus. This Cavity enlarges
itself more or less in proportion
to the bigness of the Fœtus, or the
number of Children, as in case of
Twins.
79The Womb is seated in the lower
part of the Hypogastrium, between
the straight Gut and the Bladder.
The Cavity where ’tis lodg’d, is
call’d the Pelvis or Basin, and is
larger in Women than in Men, so
as to give the Womb liberty to distend
it self upon Impregnation; it
is tied fast at the bottom, and at the
Neck. The Neck is knit before to
the Bladder, and the Share-bone, and
behind to the straight Gut and the
Os Sacrum. The bottom is not tied
so fast as the Neck, it requiring more
liberty to move and dilate it self; but
to prevent the shifting of its Seat,
the Ligaments are equipp’d, being
four in Number, two above, and
two below.
Having describ’d the Privities of
Man and Woman: I come now to
my dissertation upon the Generation
of Man, and the more particular use
and dimensions of the Parts employ’d
therein.
80
An Animal cannot be produc’d
without a Couple, viz. a Male and
a Female, each of which performs
its part in the work of Generation.
Their entring on this work is call’d
Copulation, which is the joining of
the Male to the Female: And both
of them are equally transported with
a furious and restless Passion, occasion’d
by a mix’d motion of pleasure
and pain in the Genitals, which
strongly excites a desire for each
other.
As this Enjoyment is natural, there
needs no Instruction; Instinct in all
Animals directs the way of acting,
that is most convenient for propagating
their Species: And a Man,
though brought up in never so great
Ignorance, at his Age of Maturity
naturally enclines to it, and needs
no other Guide but the dictates of
81Nature to find out the center of
Enjoyment.
But if Nature had not planted
in the Genitals a sense of extraordinary
pleasure in the amorous Engagement,
Man would seldom give
himself the trouble of Copulation:
The cause of this pleasure some impute
to the mixing of Spirits with
the Seed, which give a pleasing tickling;
and that this is encreas’d by
the fineness and bending of the Nervous
Fibres of the parts: Others are
of opinion, that the Salt in the
Seed, and the Spirits accompanying,
prick the parts through which they
pass and occasion such an agreeable
Titillation: And some give this
reason for the pleasure, that as in
Eating we have an Enjoyment,
which no part but the Tongue and
Palate partake of; so in Copulation
a peculiar pleasure arises, of
which the Generation Organs are
only sensible; and that Animals are
82mov’d to the Act of Generation, as
they are to Eating.
The tickling Pleasure which affects
Women, proceeds from the Emotion,
that is excited when the Seed
disengages it self from the Testicle,
and passes through the Cavities of
the ejaculatory Vessels, in order to
be darted into the Womb. When a
Woman is not with Child, the Seed
is thrown into the Womb by the
shortest Vessel, and when she is pregnant,
the Seed is thrown into the
Neck of the Womb by the longest
Branch: And for this reason, big-belly’d
Women are more passionately
fond of Embraces than others; for
the Seed spending more time in its
intricate Passage, raises a more transporting
and lasting Titillation.
In respect to the Parts of a Man
employ’d in the work of Generation,
the Yard when lank cannot go about
it; and it may be so stiff, as
not to be proper: And sometimes
the erection of the Yard is so strong,
83that it is always bent: A large Yard
does not stand so readily, as a small
one; and when it does it cannot
subsist so long, by reason it requires
more Blood to fill it; and when full,
it is heavier, and consequently apt
to fall in a very little time: And the
business of Generation suffers no alteration
from the shortness or length
of the Yard within the Neck of the
Womb; for the office of the two
round Ligaments, is to enforce the
bottom of the Womb to approach
the head of the Yard, in order to receive
the Seed in time of Ejaculation:
But ’tis as difficult a matter to perswade
some Lascivious Females, that
a Yard of small Dimensions is equally
useful and pleasurable to one of a
considerable Longitude and Circumference,
as it is to perswade a Club
of Ravenous Stomachs, that a thin
shrivell’d Shoulder of Mutton is of
equal Goodness with a Haunch of
well-fed Venison.
84The parts of Women frequently
differ in their Extent and Furniture;
a great many Husbands are such
Fools, as to covet difficulty in their
first Approaches; and to measure the
Virtue of their Wives, by the labour
of their consummating Attack; not
considering Nature has so order’d,
that the Privy Parts are in the same
Condition with the Mouth and the
Eyes; some are little, and others are
large; so that those who have naturally
the larger size, may be unjustly
charg’d with Lewdness; and on the
other hand, those, who by the natural
disposition of the Parts are
straighter, may after Copulation be reputed
Virgins. A Little Woman may
have a large Mouth, &c. and a large
Woman a little one, whereby the
lesser Person may have the more capacious
Privities: And the same rule
may be observ’d in Men, in respect
to the Nose, which seems to have
equal Authority in determining the
Dimensions nature has provided in
85the Male, as the Mouth or Eyes in
the Female.
Nature does not always observe
an exact rule of Symmetry, the visible
Limbs and Parts are oftentimes
disproportion’d; we frequently
see a large personable Man, supported
with slender Legs, and a
Dwarf equip’d with large nervous
Calves; and the same want of proportion
is certainly to be found in
the Privities.
I have known a wanton Female
marry a Person of an extraordinary
Stature, in expectation of a large
Pleasure, with Sorrow confess she
was greatly mistaken. And as a
strong Soil does not constantly afford
the most plentiful Crop of productive
Grain; so the Privy Parts of a robust
Person, are not always stock’d with
the greatest quantity of surrounding
Ornaments.
But to return to the Privy Parts
of Women; in some extraordinary
cases, the Lips of the Matrix, may
86be so closely join’d, that a Yard of
the smallest Size, cannot possibly
enter (when they are to be artfully
separated by a Surgeon:) And in
other Females the Passage is so
wide, that the largest Member will
make its way without the least difficulty:
And I at this time know
a Gentleman very well provided in
the parts of Generation (beyond
what is common) that has had three
Wives, all of them of unspotted Reputations,
and the oldest not above
Nineteen; who affirms that the
Nights of consummation with each
of his Spouses; he was in quite to
the Testicles in his first penetrating
attempt.
The same Gentleman has declar’d,
that in his Youth, when his Curiosity
led him to the utmost variety;
he has sometimes met with a Lady
of Pleasure, whose Parts must be
suppos’d to be extended to the utmost
latitude of Nature, and to
which upon Examination, no binding
87Preparations had been applied; that
he could not possibly enter in the
most encountering Embrace, which
sufficiently shews the incertainty of
Nature, and the difficulty attending
the proof of Virginity. And this
Gentleman is of the same Opinion
with many others, that a narrow entrance
to the Privy Parts of a Female,
very much impedes a mutual
Enjoyment.
Thus much for the Dimensions of
the Privities: I now proceed to Generation.
When the Fancy warm’d
with an Idea of Pleasure, occasions a
diffusion of the Animal Juice, of Consequence
ensues Erection: An Erection
being effected, and the Yard
lodg’d in the Neck of the Womb;
the Seed taking leave of the seminal
Vesicles, passes through the Ejaculatory
Vessels, and enters the Urethra;
from whence ’tis squirted out with a
Jirk, by vertue of the Convulsions
that then seize the Yard: And as
Ejaculation the last point of the
88Man’s Action, is the critical moment
of pleasure, so ’tis the principal
aim, he has in View, and all the
Circumstances that usher it in, have
an eye upon that Instant: The sanguine
Person is the most amorous,
and produces the greatest quantity of
laudable Seed.
The Seed of a Man being syring’d
into the Privy Parts of a Woman
by the Yard, it repairs to the bottom
of the Womb, and its inner
Orifice shuts it self close: ‘After
which the Seed being embrac’d
and press’d by the Womb, all its
Particles begin to take their respective
Posts; the subtilest continue
in the Center, and consequently
the grosser and superfluous
Parts are thrust towards the Surface,
where they produce the After-birth,
the Navel-string, and the
Membranes, in which the Fœtus
is wrapt. In the mean time all the
Particles calculated for forming the
89different parts of the Body, disengage
themselves by the force of
their motion, and either part or
join according to their mutual Disparity
or Conformity; so that those
design’d for the head Assemble
in the place where they ought to
be; and those for the rest of the
Body do the like: And at the same
time among those calculated for the
Head, the Particles qualify’d for
forming the Eyes, Ears, &c. rendezvous
in their proper places: The
same may be said of the Particles
of which the Breast, Belly, and
Limbs are compos’d. The Form,
Structure, Order and Connection of
all these parts, depends chiefly upon
the Spirit enclos’d within the
Seed; which by the meer necessity
of its Motions, and without any
Knowledge or Understanding, unravels
the Chaos where the Particles
lay confus’d, and ranks them
in the same Order, that they had
when lodg’d in the Body of the Animals,
90from which they sprung. The
parts of the Fœtus being thus form’d,
the subtilest part of the Spirit continues
in the Center of the new-form’d
Body, i. e. the Heart; and there
makes a sort of Fire without Light
(being the natural Heat that gives
Life) which is fed by the circular
motion of the Blood that passes
there incessantly.’ This is the most
probable Idea of forming the Fœtus,
and what passes in the Womb,
that is given by any Ancient or
Modern Writers.
Some are of Opinion, that the
Fœtus is form’d of a mixture of the
Male and Female Seed; and that
these two Seeds impregnated with
the Spirit of Life, are the agent and
matter of Generation. Some alledge
that the Male Seed is sufficient of
it self to form a Fœtus; and that the
Woman only gives it a lodging, and
furnishes the necessary Blood for its
nourishment in the Womb: The
Male being in this sense, look’d upon
91as an accomplish’d and perfect piece
of Work, and the Female only a
fertile Ground, which produces good
Seed where the Labourer sows it
well: And others are of opinion,
that the Woman’s Seed contains the
first, and the true Model of the
Fœtus; there being small seminal
Vesicles in the Testicles of a Woman,
call’d the Eggs; which contain within
themselves, all that is necessary
to give the Fœtus a Being.
But the most common and rational
Opinion is, that of the Fœtus being
form’d by the mixing of the two Seeds
in the Womb; that Man and Woman
are equally perfect; and that both of
them being furnish’d with Testicles,
which make a secretion of Seed,
both of them must supply; and a
Woman cannot be got with Child,
unless she and the Man ejaculate
their Seed at the same time.
Those enclining to believe, that
the Male Seed is sufficient of it self
to form a Fœtus, plead that the Seed
92of a Man differs vastly from that of
a Woman: That the former is white,
and of a thick consistence, compos’d
of all the parts that are capable to
form a Body; and that the latter is
only a sharp and yellowish serosity,
which cannot contribute any thing
towards the form of the Fœtus. But
this is esteem’d by other Persons a
groundless fancy; for the Structure
of a Woman’s Testicle is more admirable
than that of a Man, which
shews that the Seed separated by it,
is of considerable use: And several
Children have their Mothers Features
and Humour, which demonstrates
that the Father, to whom
they oftentimes bear no resemblance,
does not furnish all himself.
Those Persons who pretend that
the Woman’s Seed contains the first,
and the true Model of the Fœtus,
compare the Female Testicles to a
bunch of Grapes, or a Bee-hive; consisting
of Vesicles, each of which
contains a little Animal, almost compleated
93in all its Parts, after the same
manner as the Egg of a Fowl: And
that Man’s Seed contributes to Generation,
no otherwise than as it animates
the Egg: But the Opinion
which is generally receiv’d, is that
both the Male and the Female Seed
contain such Particles, as are qualify’d
to form a Body and a Spirit capable
of all the Motions perform’d
by the Animal, from which they
have Being; and that Generation depends
upon an exact mixture of the
two Seeds.
The Opinions relating to the matter
whereof the Seed is compos’d, are
no less various than those of the forming
of the Fœtus; some Anatomists
say, ’tis prepar’d by the concoction
and conversion of Blood, effected in
this manner. The Blood imported
to the Testicles by four spermatick
Vessels, two Arteries and two Veins:
The Vein and Artery of the same
side, having a mutual Communication,
blend the arterious and venous
94Blood together; and this mixture
of arterious and venous Blood boyl
and convert into Seed by the peculiar
faculty and virtue of the Organs
of the Testicles: This was the Opinion
of the Antients.
Others say, that the Seed is a Juice
imported by the Nerves to the Organs
of Generation; and that it distills
from the Brain to the Privities;
that in the time of Ejaculation one
may feel it trickling along the Spina
of the Back; that when the Adventure
is over, the Animal is feeble
and dejected through the great Dissipation
of the Spirits that are hurry’d
along with the Seed; and that
the Seed is of the same colour with
the animal juice of the Nerves.
Other Anatomists tell ye the Seed
is compos’d of an infinity of little
Animals, which they call seminary;
that these swim and flutter about in
the Liquor, and may be easily discover’d
with a Microscope; that
these seminal Animals are so many
95Seeds of Men, which being convey’d
to the Ovarium, strike at the first Egg
they meet with; upon which one of
them perforates the Membrane, or
gets into the Egg by a suppos’d Orifice,
and presently shuts it self up,
leaving the rest to perish without
Doors, unless some of them have the
good Fortune to slip into another
Egg. The Animal that enters the
Egg, serves for Sperm, which by
swelling it up, prompts it to disengage
it self from the Ovarium, and
tumble into the Tuba, which conducts
it to the Womb.
But the most substantial reasons
given for the composure of the Seed
are grounded upon Circulation, that
the seminal Particles are separated
and filtrated from the Blood by the
Testicles; and Anatomists acquainted
with the Structure of the Testicles,
say, that the Seed is produc’d by a
continual Filtration of several Particles,
which being gather’d into a
96Body, make a Liquor that is qualify’d
for the forming of a Man.
Mr. Lamy in his Anatomical Discourses,
says, that the same necessity
which obliges Plants after a set period
of time to put forth the Seeds which
give being to others, does likewise
influence Animals at a certain Age
to produce prolifick Seed, which he
explains thus: The moisture of Infancy
being consum’d by the overpowering
Heat, the Blood is crouded
with a greater number of Corpusculums
qualified to nourish the Parts
and repair their Losses, than there is
occasion for; so that a great number
of these nutritious Particles meeting
with no reception in the respective
Parts, return along with the Blood.
The Head sends back such Particles
as are proper for recomposing all the
different Parts it is made of; and so
do the other parts. Now all these
various sorts of Particles being mix’d
with the Blood, are strain’d through
the Testicles; after which they rally
97and compose a Humour which is the
sensible and corporeal part of the
Seed of Man.
Seed is a very sweet Liquor when
’tis in a regular State, but when
’tis long under confinement, it turns
perfectly sower, and causes very pernicious
effects in both Male and Female.
Men are harsher in their
Tempers, and frequently attack’d
with Vapours to a degree; and Women
are thrown into a deplorable
Condition, which will find no absolute
Cure, till the stagnating Seed is
evacuated by Marriage: The Seed
mixing with the Blood breaks its Texture
and changes its Consistence; so
that by rendring it more serous, liquid
and cold, and by flattening the
Redness of the Blood, it makes the colour
of the Skin less lively; and at length
occasions the Virgins Distemper.
Monsieur Dionis is of opinion,
that most of the Nuns and other
Girls that are taken to be possess’d
with Devils, were subject to Vapours
98only when they acted the
awkward extravagancies that History
is full of. And I have been inform’d
by the learned Dr. C——n, and other
eminent Physicians, that Vapours
will so powerfully prevail in some
Young Females, by a stagnation of
the Seed, that they are oblig’d to
prescribe extraordinary Remedies,
and sometimes Friction to procure
relief; and to prevent Convulsions,
irregular Imaginations, &c. which
would otherwise ensue, if not a perfect
Lunacy for a time.
An early Marriage is the most
effectual Preservative against the numerous
Disorders proceeding from
quantities of Seed unnaturally confin’d;
and will render a perfect
Health and Tranquility; unless it be
in the case of Impotency; or in some
Countries where a Man by tying a
Knot upon his Codpiece, when the
Priest pronounces such and such
Words on the day of Marriage;
lays claim to a right of preventing
99its Consummation: But if a Man
cannot consummate his Marriage,
you’ll always find it proceed from
a natural Cause; and that the Devil
has no hand in it.
To conclude my Subject of Generation,
and the Parts employ’d therein:
I shall here insert an Observation
of St. Augustin. The Instruments
of Generation (says he)
are a call’d Pudenda, because they
speak our Shame in this, that he who
commands all the other Parts, cannot
reduce these to Obedience.
- Silently corrected obvious typographical errors and variations in spelling.
- Retained archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings as printed.
