REASON, and the mere Contemplation of Nature (abstracted from the Light and Assistance of Revelation or Faith) afford us sufficient convincing Arguments, for the Existence of this great and incomprehensible Being; as Heathens themselves do testify.

ACCORDING to Plato (that most excellent Heathenish Divine) Philosophical Demonstrations are the only Catharticks (i. e. Purgers) of the Soul; being the most proper means to cleanse it from Error, and give us an exact Relish of Sacred Truths. Wherefore I shall strictly confine myself to These, in proving the Being of this Existence, from the Maxims of all the four principal Sects of Heathen Philosophers; which I shall discuss in the briefest Terms, by only touching upon a few of their respective Proofs; viz.

THE Naturalist insists chiefly upon three Heads; That of Motion, the Final, and the Efficient Cause.

UPON the Axiom of Motion, that Sect could not exceed, or go beyond the Primum Mobile among created Beings; and therefore allows, that there is something above it, which moves itself and is not moved by Another.

UPON that of the Final Cause, they could find no created Being capable of directing that Nature, which directs and appoints all Creatures to aim at some peculiar End; and thence conclude, that this Nature is directed by something superior to itself.

UPON that of the Efficient Cause, they confess, from the many Vicissitudes of created Beings, that they’ve all had a Beginning: and (because no Beginning can be without an Efficient) acknowledge, that something more excellent than all created Beings, hath created them.

THE Metaphysician useth a vast Variety of sublime Arguments; whereof I shall only give a few Instances: viz.

I. THAT every finite Being must needs proceed from something else, limiting it in that Finiteness, in which its Nature conflicts.

II. THAT all Multitude must proceed from Unity, as the Motions of the lower Orbs proceed from that of the one highest; or as the many particular distinct Actions and different Motions of the Man, proceed from (their Superior) the Soul.

III. THAT the Subordination of the Creatures, one serving another, and all concurring to the Common Good, must needs proceed from the Disposal of some most wise Governour.

IV. THAT the wonderful and incomparable Art, observable in the Make and Form of every the minutest Part of the least and most despicable Creature, must necessarily proceed from some very great and omnipotent Artificer.

V. THIS Sect acknowledges also the Immortality of the Soul, as Cicero witnesses; because it is an immaterial Substance, and independent of the Body: And consequently they allow it to proceed from an immortal Author, and to return to the same, after a Dissolution from the Body.

AS to the Moralist, his way of Reasoning is plainer to our common Capacities.

I. HE proves this Argument from the natural Disposition and Propensity of the worst of Men, even Atheists themselves, upon the Approach of Death or any heavy Calamity, to acknowledge some superior divine Power; as Seneca witnesseth of Caligula, &c.

II. FROM the ultimate End and chief Good of Man; which (according to Plato) is nothing Terrestrial: Our Souls being insatiable in this Life, have a constant Tendency to that particular End, for which we are created; which (in his Words) consists only in being inseparably united to God.

III. FROM Virtue and Vice, the Rewards and Punishments due to these from Nature and Reason; which agree with Equity and Justice, that they, who live well, should be rewarded with this their ultimate End and final Felicity: And those who live otherwise, should be punished by the Loss thereof forever. Thence they (of consequence) acknowledge, that there must be a just and powerful Judge, above all created Beings, to inflict this impartial Sentence.

THE Mathematician acknowledges That to be some Being superior to all others; whose Center he finds every where, and whose Circumference he can limit or discover no where. But because this Sect borrows the better Part of their Proofs from the other three mentioned, I shall go no farther; designing nothing but Brevity thro’out this Work, especially upon a Thesis so manifest as This: Which indeed I should not so much as have touched upon, considering how elegantly and copiously many very learned Divines, and other eminent Writers, have treated that Subject; were it not that some subsequent Hypotheses depend immediately upon it. Wherefore I proceed to

HOWEVER extensive this Word Nature may be, and whatever secundary Definitions it may admit of; it is (in effect) nothing else than the Denouncer of the Divine Will and Pleasure, the Efficient Cause of natural Works, and the Conservant of real Existences: Or, the Order and Series of Sacred Works, obeying the Divine Will, Power, and Commands. At least I think all other Definitions of this Word, taken in whatsoever Sense, may be reduced to These following; viz.

NATURE is the implanted and innate Quality of Things.

NATURE is the Faculty and Propensity of every Mind.

NATURE is the Mixture and Temperature of the four Elements.

NATURE is the Philosopher’s Axiom of Motion and Rest.

NATURE is that which giveth Form, by a specifick Difference, to every thing.

WHICH Power (in either Definition) can only be ascribed to that Great God, whose infinite Existence I’ve been hinting upon: Who is the Author of Nature and Framer of the Universe; who by his own Breath and Word, without any material Help, and at his own Will and Pleasure, created all Things. In whom all Things live, move, and have their Being. By whom a vivacious Faculty is infused through all Things; so as that (by and through Him) all Things subsist of their own peculiar Natures and natural Qualities; and by these implanted Qualities increase, maintain, and defend themselves: And that so, that in such an immense University, and such a vast Variety of Things, nothing is indeed idle, useless, or unprofitable. Nothing is made rashly, fortuitously, or in vain; but every Thing appears appointed to some certain Use and Purpose, and determined to some settled Course and Sphere of Action: Every Being answering the End of its Design, and the Design of its Creation.

AS Man was set on the Theatre of this World, to the End that he might admire, delight, and confide in God his great Creator; so was the Humane Body made for the Divine Soul, and the respective Members for the Body: which all voluntarily concur in the Discharge of their peculiar Functions, for the Benefit and Use of the Whole.

AND so was every Stem endued with its own Faculty, and every Creature with its own Nature; which made Aristotle^[1] most pertinently say, “That there’s nothing so minute in the Nature of Things, nothing so abject or despicable, but may reasonably afford Men something of Admiration.”

NOW, I think, we may be soon brought to this Admiration, when we only view those Things which are so evidently exposed to our Eyes: such as the Elements, the Heavens, the Rising and Setting of the Sun, Moon, and Stars, the Diurnal and Nocturnal Vicissitudes, the four Seasons of the Year, comprehending the two Æquinoctials of Spring and Fall, and the two Solstices of Summer and Winter; by whose Decourse or Descent Grass fades, and Herbs decay; and again, by their Ascent or Influence, spring up and revive.

AND again, when we consider the Animals, the Faculties and Propension of their respective Natures, how they are endued with peculiar Sense, because denied particular Reason; and how wisely they are all dispos’d, some inhabiting the Waters, some enjoying the free Air, and others possessing the Desarts; some reptile and creeping, some gradient and walking, some solivagant and wandering, some wild and fierce, and others innocent and tame: I say the marvellous and inimitable Artifice of Nature in these, and all other natural Works, is not only to be admir’d; but also the Majesty, Glory, Fullness, and Magnificence of the Great Creator and Institutor of this Nature is to be most highly ador’d; in whom all things originally center, as their common Source and Divine Fountain, and to whom all things are finally reduced, as the Primigenious Essence and Archetype of Nature.

MAN, to whom all sublunary Beings were subjected, is most excellently qualified, far above all other Creatures of this World: In him is not only the vegetative Life of Plants, and the sensitive Life of Animals, but also the Angelical Reason, the Divine Understanding, the true Conjunction and glorious Possession of all Things: He is not only endued with Reason and the Gift of Speaking, but also with a Mind and a Soul, which participates of a Celestial Nature and Divinity itself; which can relate to the Nature of nothing else, and be compared to none but God himself: In and thro’ whom he has a Similitude with all things, an Operation with all, and Conversation with all: He symbolizeth with all Matters in proper Subjects; with the Elements in a fourfold Body; with Plants in a vegetative Virtue; with Animals in a sensitive Faculty; with the Heavens in an Etherial Spirit; with Angels in Wisdom and Understanding, and with God himself (as it were) in containing and comprehending all things, except the Divine Being. Hence nothing can so expresly represent God as the Soul of Man, by which he is dignified and railed to the very Image and Similitude of himself. And in MAN the mirificent Wisdom shines the more conspicuously; in that the whole World, and the Fabrick of all its Contents, however concise and artificial, can in no respect compare with the noble Structure of this Microcosm, Man. It is so marvellously concise, and so wonderfully artificial, that it seems no otherways, than as if the Maker (designing this for his Master-piece) would have his chief Glory, Esteem, and Reputation to depend upon it, and derive itself from Hence; or, as if the Maker (designing this for one signal Instance of his Divinity to Men) would have us brought, merely by the Understanding and Knowledge of ourselves, to the true Knowledge and due Reverence of Himself, our great ARTIFICER.

THAT we may be the more duly and sensibly affected towards him, and the more admire and reverence the Wisdom of his Nature, as he bountifully produced all things for the Use and Utility of MAN; so he most appositely disposed the Herbs of the Field, some to our Nourishment, some to our Remedies, and some to both Necessities: assimilating and assigning them to our singular Members, so that their Powers and Virtues are physically convey’d to such Parts of our Bodies, as they are adapted to by Nature.

AND in the same manner he imbued the Roots of the Ground with such natural Qualities, that they by their respective innate Faculties, succour and relieve those Members, to which they are specifically destinated; and such Members sensibly attract and imbibe from them, not only wholesome Nutriment, but also healthful Remedies peculiarly appropriated to themselves by Nature.

BUT the immortal SOUL, which is only peculiar to MAN, whereby he so perfectly assimilates and resembles God; and its Gifts and Graces, whereby he excels and out-shines all other sublunary Creatures; is more properly the Subject of the Divine, than the Physician; wherefore I shall but touch it transiently.

THE SOUL is a certain divine Light, created after the Image of God; figured by a Seal, whose Character is the eternal Word.

THE SOUL is a certain divine Substance, individual, and entirely present in every Part of the Body, depending only upon the Power of Him, who is the ultimate End, and efficient Cause of all things; whose Body (according to Plato) is Truth, whose Shadow is Light, and whose Name is God.

AND this divine Substance of Light, the SOUL, immediately proceeding from that divine Fountain of all Things, God, (according to the Opinion of the Platonists) is join’d, by competent Means, to the grosser Matter of the Body. Which Means these Heathens account for in manner following: viz.

THE SOUL, in its Descent, is involved in an etherial Body, which they call the celestial Vehicle, or Chariot of the Soul; thro’ which Medium, by the Command of God, (who is the Center of the World) it is first infus’d into the middle Punct of the Heart, which is the Center of the Body; whence it is diffus’d thro’ all the Parts and Members of the Body, joining itself to the natural Heat. As a Spirit, generated by Heat from the Heart, it plungeth itself into the Humours; and thus inhering in all the respective Parts, it becomes equal in degree of Proximity to all the Members.

THUS the immortal SOUL is, by an immortal Engine, convey’d to, and included in the mortal Body: But when by Diseases, or otherways, these Mediums (the Heat and Humours) begin to dissolve, the Soul recollects itself, and flies back betimes to its first Receptacle, the Heart: When the Spirit of the Heart also fails, the Heat extinguishes, and the Spirit leaves the Man; He dies, and the SOUL flies away in its original Vehicle: When the Body returns to Earth, whence it came, and the Spirit to God, who gave it a sacred Nature and divine Offspring: which Spirit judging the SOUL, if it has liv’d ill, subjects it to some general and some particular Torments of Hell, abandoning it also to the Pleasure of the Devil: Whereas, if it has done well, it mounts its celestial Chariot, rejoicing together with the Spirit, and passes freely to the Choirs of Heaven; where it enjoys all its pure Senses and Faculties, the perfect Knowledge of all things, a perpetual blessed Felicity; and at last, the divine Vision, the Possession of the eternal Kingdom, &c.

THUS far I have prosecuted the Platonick Doctrine of the SOUL; so that even by This, the gross Opinion of such as deny the Existence of so divine a Spark in Man, may be confuted.

AND this being sufficient for that purpose, I need not introduce any Christian Arguments to second it; which, however important, are commonly deem’d light by an obstinate Sett of Men. Wherefore I shall only add, that from the Disparity of Manners, Affections, Dispositions, Capacities, Judgments, Opinions, and Passions of Men, it appears most probable and evident, that every one of us is individually indued with a Soul, and that with a proper Soul, peculiar to our respective Bodies, according to the wise Proverb; So many Men, so many Minds: as well as Horace’s^[2] Saying,

TO which Assertion the great Prophet David assents, in that God fashioned and made the Hearts and Minds of Men one by one, enduing them with peculiar Dispositions, and assigning every Soul its proper natural Conditions. Hence Solomon^[4] says, I was a witty Child, and had a good Spirit; yea, rather being good, I came into a Body undefiled: That is, adapted to the Disposition of his SOUL. As we see some Torches or Candles burn brighter, and some Fuel cast more Heat and Light than others; so the Splendour of every SOUL shines in a different way, and produces different Distinctions of Minds: as is evident in Youths, who (however accurately taught, and painfully instructed) are not equally capable of learning Arts, Discipline, or any sort of Erudition.

BUT notwithstanding that some curious Physicians (who have strictly scrutiniz’d the Works of Nature) would have the SOUL to center in the Brain, whence all its Senses, Faculties, and Actions proceed; yet some Philosophers have justly assign’d the Center of the Heart to its Residence: which Doctrine is also approved by the wise Solomon^[5], saying; Keep thy Heart with all Diligence, for out of it are the Issues of Life.

HOWEVER yet, if any should still obstinately persist in denying the Being of the SOUL, I advise such to go no farther, but look into themselves, and call their own Minds to Counsel; for even there they will have a full View, not only of its Being, but also of its supernatural Excellency; If they but seriously weigh the eximious Gifts, and unlimited Faculties of Nature, together with the egregious Ornaments of Reason, Understanding, Judgment, Memory, and many other Accomplishments, with which every Mind is abundantly endued; they will clearly perceive something of a superexcellent Nature, and Supernatural Quality in themselves; which is nothing else but what I call the Soul, and which is also of a more noble and excelling Substance, than any corporeal Matter liable to Corruption can be.

THIS Being, only and alone, vivifies, rules, and governs the Body; furnishing it with innumerable Actions, and exercising it with as many curious Offices. Hence, from its manifold Effects, and different Operations, it has various Appellations, according to St. Augustine’s Saying: “CÙm Corpus animat, VitÂq; imbuit, Anima dicitur: Dum vult, Animus: dum Scienti ornata est, ac Judicandi peritiam exercet, Mens: dum recolit ac reminiscitur, Memoria: dum ratiocinatur, ac singula discernit, Ratio: dum Contemplationi insistit, Spiritus: dum Sentiendi vim obtinet, Sensus.” Which are all the principal Functions of the Soul, whereby it demonstrates its Power, and performs its relative Offices. In the Execution whereof, St. Cyprian asserts, that the SOUL makes use of the Body, as the Workman does of the Mallet, Hatchet, or Anvil: tho’ (I think) the Simile may be drawn much nearer, the SOUL being inclosed and dwelling in the Body, as the Fish or the Snail in the Shell; without which Receptacle, or Rampart of Defence, it cannot subsist: Which is evident in that, as soon as the Body labours under any Grief, the SOUL is also affected; not with a primary Affection (as some would have it) but by a Law of the most strict Alliance, and nearest Affinity; and hence it is, that the Vices and Virtues of the one are transfus’d, and flow into the other.

THIS is the only reason why, when the corporeal Organs or Instruments are vitiated or impeded, the SOUL cannot explicate its own Faculties, according to the Words of Solomon^[6]; The corruptible Body presseth down the Soul, and the earthly Tabernacle weigheth down the Mind. Which Truth may serve to obviate two Objections; viz. That of Childrens being destitute of the SOUL, and that of the SOUL’s growing up with Youth, and declining with Age, or Sickness: Since, tho’ it less displays itself in Infancy, Sickness, and Dotage, yet it still is, and continues furnished with its proper Faculties, and that from the Beginning of Life, until its End; neither does the SOUL in its Substance ever suffer the least Diminution, but only by the Ineptitude of the Instrument or Organ, it may be hindered in the Discharge of its Functions, and Execution of its Offices.

AND tho this divine Substance can contract nothing of Vice, Spot, or Contagion from the Concretion of the corruptible Body: yet as a thick Cloud obscures the Sun-Beams, and overcasts its Light; or, as by holding a versicolour Glass to our Eyes, Matters appear different from what they really are: So the Intemperature of the Body obscures the Light of Reason, and overshadows the Intellects of the Mind, which of course obstructs the Functions of the Soul. Hence it is, that a delirious or drunken Man thinks he sees double, or two things, tho’ one be the only Object of his Eyes: And as, for this reason, melancholick Persons imagine Absurdities, and feign Dreams to themselves; so cholerick Persons grow insensibly hot, and are suddenly incensed by the Fumes of noxious Humours oppressing the Brain.

BUT there is another Sett of Miscreants, who don’t so much deny the Existence, as the Immortality of the Soul. This I esteem a Piece of the grossest Impiety, to think that spiritual Substance Mortal and Frail, which is inspir’d in Man by the Divine Will and Command, proceeding immediately from the very Substance of God himself: Since if Man be made after the Image of God, to express his Similitude, he must needs participate of his Nature, and consequently be a Fellow-Sharer of Eternity: And if the human Soul be Partaker of the divine Essence or Substance, as God is eternal and incapable of Decay, so it must needs be eternal, and free from all Corruption.

MOREOVER, God form’d and made all other Things for the sake of Man, but Him he made for his own sake, and therefore like unto Himself; for which reason, he was pleas’d to agglutinate Immortality to Mortality, and Divinity to Humanity: By which Means, the divine Nature incorporates, as it were, with the human, and the human is united to the divine.

HENCE we may clearly see how marvellously God has been affected towards us from the Beginning; how much he delighted in us, and desired the entire Fruition and full Enjoyment of our perpetual Familiarity, and eternal Fellowship; which Truth Christ^[7] (the Wisdom of the Father) confirms by his own Testimony.

AND such is still the great Love and Propension of God towards Man, that all Things (thro’ his Grace) are communicated to him by his only SON;^[8] and that more especially because we are conditional Sharers, equal Inheritors, and Joint-Heirs with him, agreeable to the^[9] Apostles Phrase; and whatever is express’d in CHRIST, may also be in Man: Since as he is eternal, and lives for ever, so Man (by his Grace and Merits) does the same; for he having sufficiently bruised Satan’s Head, led Captivity Captive, and conquer’d Death, rose again, and became the Prince and Captain of so glorious a VICTORY, that all Men, by virtue of that Triumph, might be raised up again at the Last Day, and that to participate of an Immortality of Welfare or Woe.

Plato, Alcinous, and many other learned Men, do agree, that the heavenly Spirit’s Composition, mixing Fire, Air, Earth, and Water, made of them all, put together, one Body; which they subjected to the Service of the SOUL, assigning the several Provinces of the one, to the sundry Faculties of the other: To the meaner of them, mean and low Places; as to Anger, the Midriff; to Lust, the Womb, &c: but to the more noble Senses, the HEAD, as the Tower of the whole Body.

AS they divide these Senses into external and internal; so they subdivide the external Senses into five: To which are allotted as many proper Organs or Subjects, being so order’d, that they which are placed in the more eminent Parts of the Body, have the greater Degree of Purity.

FOR the Eyes, placed in the uppermost part, are the most pure, and have an Affinity with the Nature of Fire and Light. The Ears have the second Order of Place and Purity, and are compar’d to the Air. The Nostrils take the third Order, and have a middle Nature betwixt Air and Water. Then the Organ of Tasting, which is grosser, and most like to the Nature of Water. And, lastly, Touching being diffus’d through the whole Body, is compar’d to the Grossness of Earth.

AND of these, the more pure SENSES, are those which perceive their Objects farthest off; as first Seeing, then Hearing, then Smelling, which are all more pure than Taste, which doth not perceive but what is nigh: whereas the Touch perceives both Ways; it perceives Bodies nigh: And as Sight discerns by the Medium of the Air; so the Touch perceives, by the Medium of a Pole, Bodies hard, soft, dry, moist, &c.

NOW this Sense of Touching, is common indeed to all Animals: However, ’tis certain that Man, in this, as well as in the Sense of Tasting, excels all others: whereas, in the other three, he is exceeded by some Brutes, as by a Dog, which hears, sees, and smells much more acutely than Man. Besides, the Lynx, and Eagle, see more acutely than Man, or any other Creature in the World.

AS to the interiour SENSES, they are (according to Averroes) divided into Four; whereof the first is called the Common Sense, because it collects and perfects such Representations as are drawn-in by the external SENSES. The second is the Imaginative Faculty, which retains those receiv’d Representations, and presents them to the third Faculty of internal SENSE; which is call’d the Cogitative Faculty, Phantasy, or Power of Judging: Because it perceives and judges by the Representations received, what Nature or Kind of Thing that is, of which the Representations are made; and commits those Things thus discerned and adjudged, to the fourth Faculty of Inward SENSE, the Memory, to be kept there, and retain’d by it.

AND these Four SENSES have their respective Organs in the Head: Common Sense and Imagination possess the two former Cells of the Brain, as the Cogitative Faculty doth the highest, and middle Part of the Head; the Memory taking up the hindmost Part thereof.

THE Organs of Speech and Voice are as many as the inward Muscles of the Thorax, betwixt the Ribs, Breasts, Lungs, Arteries, Wind-pipe, the Bending of the Tongue, and all Parts and Muscles, serving for Respiration, or Breathing: But the proper and immediate Organ of Speech, is the Mouth, in which are fram’d Words and Sentences, by the Tongue, Teeth, Palate, Lips, &c. above the sensitive Soul, which expresseth its Powers by the Organs of the Body. The incorporeal Mind possesseth the highest Place, and hath a double Nature; the one called the Contemplative, the other the Active Intellect, because of their respective Faculties.

ACCORDING to the three-fold Order of its Faculties there are three APPETITES in the Soul. The first is natural, which is an Inclination of Nature unto its End. The second is Animal, which is divided into irascible and concupiscible, relating to Anger and Desire. The third is intellective, and is call’d the Will; which (from its own deprav’d Quality) is affected with four PASSIONS, as the Body sometimes also is. The first is called Oblectation; the second, Effusion; the third, Ostentation; the fourth, and last, is what we commonly call Envy. And

THESE four PASSIONS arising from a deprav’d APPETITE of Pleasure; its Grief or Perplexity doth occasion as many contrary PASSIONS: viz. Horror, Sadness, Fear, and Sorrow at another’s Good, without its own Hurt; which is call’d Envy, being a Sadness at another’s Prosperity, as Pity is a certain kind of Sadness at another’s Misery or Adversity.

BUT not to insist on these Topicks, I shall only add a few Words upon the PASSIONS of the Mind; which are nothing else than certain Motions or Inclinations, proceeding from the Apprehension of any Thing, as of Good or Evil, &c.

THESE Apprehensions are of three different Sorts, viz. Sensual, Rational, and Intellectual. And according to them, there are three Sorts of Passions in the Soul; the first, following the sensual Apprehension, respects a temporal Good or Evil, under the Notion of Profit or Loss, Defence or Offence, &c: and they are called Natural or Animal Passions.

THE second following the Rational Apprehension, respects Good or Bad, under the Notion of Virtue or Vice, Praise or Disgrace, &c: and they are called Rational or Voluntary Passions.

THE third, following the Intellectual Apprehension, respects Good or Evil, under the Notion of Truth or Falsehood, Justice or Injustice, &c: and this Sort is call’d Intellectual Passions.

BUT these three different Sorts proceed all from the Energy of the Soul; which is divided into Concupiscible and Irascible, both respecting Good and Evil, tho’ under different Notions: which Division affords us eleven Passions of the Mind, viz. Love, Hatred, Desire, Horror, Joy, Grief, Hope, Despair, Boldness, Fear, and Anger; all which might be particularly defin’d: But as that is more the Philosopher’s than the Physician’s Business, I shall proceed to that which is more strictly my Province.

BESIDES what has been said in the preceding Chapters, touching the SOUL, its Powers and Faculties; when we duly consider the beautiful Form and amiable Figure of the Body, so nicely adapted to the sublime Qualities of the Soul, with its curious Structure, and majestick Stature, erected to Heaven, whither its natural Tendency leads; besides the proportionable Symmetry and exact Commensuration of all its Parts: Surely we cannot, I hope, without the greatest Amazement, contemplate and admire the incomparable Art, and incomprehensible Skill, of the great Artificer: And with magnificent David^[10], break out in Eulogies of Praise, and ardent Exclamations of Love and Admiration.

BUT more especially: first, when we distinctly view the slender Filaments, the minute Vessels, the elaborate Contextures, and various Configurations of the different Organs of this Body. Secondly, When we duly consider the Power of its natural Faculties, the Situation of the Entrails, the Rise of the Nerves from the Brain, the Ducts or Conduits of the Arteries from the Heart, and the Original of the Veins from the Liver. Thirdly, When we call to remembrance, and ponder what I have been hinting upon, to wit, the Power of the natural Faculties of the Soul, by which they execute their relative Functions; besides, the Ætherial Spirit (the Seat and Vehicle of our natural Heat) dividing it self into a three-fold Diversity, and appropriating to itself as many Residences, viz. the Animal in the Brain, the Vital in the Heart, and the Natural Spirit in the Liver: And then again, how these three, by a Fomentation of native Heat, and nutritious Humours, cherish and refresh the whole Body supplying every Part with requisite Strength and Vigour. Fourthly, When at last we contemplate that Piece of incomprehensible Artifice, which gives a respective Species and Form to every particular Part, and implants a peculiar Faculty in every distinct Member, inducing such an Excellency into the whole Body; that is, the Formation and Delineation of the Foetus in the Womb.

THIS is such a great and curious Master-piece, that all Others, as well as the Physician, will find it not only their Duty, but also their great Satisfaction and Pleasure, to know and examine into this inimitable Machine of the divine Architect.

THE great Galen was converted at a Dissection, and durst not but acknowledge a Supreme Being, upon that Survey of his admirable Handy-work; saying,^[11] “How much is it our special Duty therefore to admire the Wisdom and Providence of the Workman? Since, tho’ it is far more easy to set forth in Words the Beginning of Things, than to form the Work; yet our Expressions and Words fall so much short of the Wisdom of him that made us, that we are not able to explain, what gave him so little trouble to make.”

AND as this was a Man who had not been too devout, so if the most Profligate would seriously weigh and consider the elegant Constitution of such a vast Variety of different Textures, the Nicety of these Organical Works, the Curiosity of these Embroideries, and the Exactitude of these Figures, which appear and seem rather to be fitted for Admiration than Use; they would readily conclude with that great Naturalist, that these Things are the evident Characteristicks of some divine and omnipotent Power, in that they are no ways to be accounted for by such natural Causes, as may be thought sufficient to explain the PhÆnomena of ignobler Beings.

THIS Body, therefore, being the Vessel and Receptacle of the Soul, the Engine and Instrument, in and through which it operates; I judge it to be our incumbent Duty, to take special Care, and nice Observation of both Soul and Body: Since (in this Life) the one cannot consist without the other, or discharge its respective Offices; the one always requiring the Ministry and Assistance of the other, which the omniscient Artificer has so wisely ordered and ordained from all Eternity.

HOWEVER yet, I cannot agree with St. Cyprian, that the animated and sensible Body is only used by the Soul, as mechanical Instruments are by the Workman; since I think a more proper Simile may be drawn from the Sun and Moon: For tho’ the Moon borrows Light of the Sun, she is not altogether devoid of such a Power or Influence as is proper to herself, being guided and sustained by a peculiar Motion, whilst she absolves her own Circle; taking Light from the Sun, no otherways than as a Looking-Glass, polish’d Brass, or Copper, takes Splendor or Refulgency from an opposite Fire or Light: For notwithstanding she exhibits no Light, unless illuminated by the Sun; however yet, she is not idle or desidious in accomplishing her monthly Course, and measuring her own Space of the Heavens, and that without any Assistance of the Sun. So the Soul invigorates and affords Strength to the Body, which however is not altogether without its own implanted Faculties and natural Powers; the four Qualities of Humours, with which ev’ry Body abounds, capacitating and adapting it to all Things within its own Sphere.

FARTHER, as the Sun suffers Eclipses, and is obscured by the Intervention of the Moon; and the Moon again (in like manner) is eclipsed and obscured by the Objection or Interposition of the Earth, the Sun always running thro’ the Ecliptick Line in the same Degree, and the Moon in opposite Degrees: So Body and Soul are subject to their own Impediments and Eclipses; sometimes defending, and sometimes offending one another; both sympathizing mutually, and participating equally of one another’s Portion. As it is evident from the very Words of our dying Saviour, who, by reason of his Human Weakness, broke out into these^[12]Words, My Soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto Death: Which Death, in the next Verse, he, in a manner, deprecates of the Father. For though he was not yet insulted, or laid hands upon, yet his whole Mind and Thoughts running upon his approaching Danger, he was seiz’d with such Horror and Trepidity, as express’d a bloody Sweat, which streamed from his whole Body: so that the Acerbity of his Grief must (of consequence) have been communicated to both Parts; and beginning in the Soul, did thence redound into the Body.

HENCE arises a rational and natural Argument, that as Soul and Body do not only act in and thro’ one another, but also suffer mutually, always sympathizing with each other, and bearing equal Share in the Troubles, Misfortunes, and Inquietudes of this Life; and that as they both inseparably constitute the Man: So, by reason of that natural Sympathy, and proximous Affinity, as the Soul enjoys Immortality, the renew’d Body (by the Mystery of the Resurrection) will be a future Partaker of the same Reward; and consequently the whole Man must enjoy one and the same State of Beatitude; or otherways, as he shall have promerited. Whence I proceed to

THE spirituous Substance of both Seeds, by its own generative and active Qualities, in a well disposed Womb, produceth a small Consistence within the Space of Seven Days, call’d the Genitura; which contains three^[13] BullÆ (so term’d by Physicians) superlatively Minute, design’d for the three Spermatick Members: The one containing the purer Part of the Seed, full of Vital Spirit, for the Heart; the other, the more thick and pinguid Part, full of Natural Spirit, for the Liver; and the third, the more cold and crude Part, full of Animal Spirit, for the Brain.

ACCORDING to^[14] Hippocrates’s Definition of the Genitura, it appears the likest of any Thing to a raw immature Egg, inclosing a certain red Liquor, with some pale-colour’d Fibres, of the finest Contexture, not unlike the Filaments of a small Spider’s Web, wrap’d up with the said red thick Blood in the Pellicule.

BUT in this place I must farther observe, that the abovesaid spirituous Substance, in which the effective Virtue of Conception resides, is endued with four distinct Faculties, which perfect as many different Operations, all subordinately effected in the Constitution of the Conception, viz.

I. THE animatÏve or vivificating Faculty of the Menstruum, called by some the first Constitutive Faculty of Conception, operating, as above, in Seven Days; which is otherwise term’d the Time of Spumification, Lactation, or Coagulation.

II. THE separative or severing Faculty of the Parts of the grosser Materials of the Conception, destinated for the respective Constitution of the different Organical Members; which, being the Work of the next Eight or Ten Days, is perfected about the 15th or 17th Day from Conception; and this is called the Time of Lineation or Ramification, when the Genitura receives the Name of Embryo.

III. THE collocative or ordinating Faculty of all the severed material Parts of the different Members, disposing and placing them according to the Law of Nature, in due Order, Figure, and Situation; which, happening the following^[15] Twelve or Fifteen Days, about the 27th or 32d Day from Conception, is called the Time of Carnification; when the Embryo receives the Name of Foetus.

NOW according to the Maxims of Astrology, as all inferiour Bodies are govern’d and influenced by Superiours, so the Seven Planets have Dominion over the Man, not only from the Day of Birth, but also from the Moment of Conception; yet not All at one and the same Time, but every one in their Order, reigning each its peculiar Month. According to which Principles, Saturn reigns the first Month, suppeditating the humid and liquid Substance of the Genitura and Embryo, through his frigid and siccid Quality’s due Coagulation for generating the Man; by virtue of whose Siccity the uterine Retentions also happen.

IV. THE formative and figurating Faculty of all the Members of the Body, imparting their respective Shape, Figure, and natural Form, to every particular one; which being the Work of the next Eight to Eighteen Days, is perfected about the 35th, to the 50th Day from Conception, and is called the Time of coarticulate Formation, when the Foetus, or Cyema, is stil’d Infant.

AND in this, the second Month, Jupiter is supposed to exert his Power in the Seed, by his calid and humid Qualities; and thereby to vivify the Spirits, strengthen the Members, and give Augmentation and Growth to the whole Foetus: So that the interior Members are not^[16] only conspicuous, but also Legs and Arms appear perfectly delineated, and are (at this time) distinctly visible; when also the Head takes its Distance from the Shoulders, the Arms from the Sides, and the Legs are plainly parted.

BUT, however, the above-mention’d Four remarkable Times may be also thus distinguished; viz. The first perfects the Work of Spumification and Coagulation; the second the Vegetative; the third the Sensitive; and the fourth begins the Rational Operation: Altho’ this cannot yet be discern’d, because of the Redundancy of Humours.

FROM the beginning of this Chapter, ’tis evident that the more noble, or three chief Parts take the first beginning to Formation, tho’ perhaps last perfected, which forthwith distribute their respective Branches to the whole Body; as the Heart sends forth the Arteries, the Liver the Veins, and the Brain the Spinal Marrow, with all their other Dependencies: And according to Aristotle, (who says, there must be a different Matter to every different Form); So indeed every distinct Part of the Body is form’d of a different Substance, according to the different Nature and singular Disposition of every particular Part.

HOWEVER, I shall not here pretend to go much farther in describing the Formation, it being more the Philosopher’s than the Physician’s Business: But whatever farther Progress others may attempt, I judge it a most difficult and ambiguous Matter; for who can be so well vers’d in those Indiscoverables? Or, who can pretend to know sufficiently what is done in those Obscurities? The Series of Nature being profounder than our Understandings, is consequently above our nicest and exactest Scrutinies: Which Consideration makes me astonished at the Logical Dissertations that some Men offer on these Principles, even on the most minute Particles, and smallest Proportions, rashly and inconsiderately assigning every respective one of these, a precise definite Time for their Formation.

I HAVE often been inclin’d to think, that such Sciolists have not read, or at least not consider’d the Words of the^[17] Preacher; As thou knowest not what is the Way of the SPIRIT, nor how the Bones do grow in the Womb of her that is with Child; even so thou knowest not the Works of GOD that maketh all. Neither do I find that the wise^[18] Hebrean ever enter’d upon such Syllogisms, who (to the contrary) testifies that the Counsel of GOD is not to be known; that our Thoughts are miserable, and our Devices uncertain. Upon which Authority, I say, in this Case, as that Labour is commendable which can be compar’d to Possibilities, so to dive into those Things, which exceed our Judgments, and admit of no possible Comparison, is nothing better than Folly. Wherefore All that is further requisite, or possible for us, is to contemplate and admire the Greatness and Elegancy, the Sublimity and Profundity of this wonderful and amazing Work of Formation; which Subject (we find) hath been the frequent Contemplation of the Royal Prophet^[19], particularly expressing himself, in the most eloquent and sublime Terms, according to the divine Light of his illuminated Understanding: Saying, Thou hast possessed my Reins: Thou hast ordered me in my Mother’s Womb. I will praise thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made, marvellous are thy Works, and that my Soul knoweth right well. My Substance was not hid from thee, tho’ I was made in secret, and curiously fashioned in the lowest Parts of the Earth. Thine Eyes did see my Bones, yet being imperfect; and in thy Book were all my Members written; which Day by Day were formed, when as yet there was none of them. Whence I proceed in order, to

THE human Foetus being duly form’d and organiz’d about the 50th Day at the latest, as we observed in the preceeding Chapter, it remains to be animated, and that with a three-fold Soul, viz. a vegetative, a sensitive, and a rational Soul.

THE First of which, according to the most learned Fortunius^[20] Licetus, &c. may be ascribed to the Mother, as chiefly proceeding from the Power of her Menstruum. The Second may (by the same Authority) be ascribed to the Power and Spirit of the Paternal Seed; but it is the more generally received Opinion, that the vegetative Soul is generated from the Commixture of both Seeds with the Menstruum, and therefore as much to be ascribed to the one, as to the other, Parent: And that also the sensitive SOUL proceeds from the proper natural Faculty of the organiz’d Foetus, as the rational SOUL doth from the immediate Infusion of the great Creator. Touching which Infusion, I desire not to meddle with the Controversy that has so long subsisted betwixt Philosophers and Divines: Only as I have noted in Chap. iv. the Opinion of the greatest Masters of Nature; so if, in this, we could, from the Dictates of Faith and Religion, as well as from the Maxims of natural Philosophy, set the Matter in a clearer Light, I humbly presume it would not be disagreeable: Since the Principles of Either, taken separately, are in themselves mysterious, and can never be fully comprehended by some; whereas, both taken jointly, I mean, the Arguments of the one, to reinforce the Positions of the other, may be satisfactory to all.

IN order to which, I first observe; That the Influx of celestial Bodies exerts its Power very efficaciously in all Sublunaries and Inferiours. Hence, touching the four Humours of our Bodies, Mars is thought to excite the yellow Bile, as Saturn exasperates Melancholy; and Luna to encrease Phlegm, as Sol and Jupiter govern the Blood.

SECONDLY, I observe, That the Power and Influence of the Planets lies effectually in Metals, Stones, Gems, Herbs, Roots, and all Subterranean Bodies; as Gold, Silver, Copper, Iron, Tin, Lead, and whatever is contained in the Bowels of the Earth, whether it tend to Use or Necessity, Profit or Pleasure; the Virtues and Increase of them all proceeding from their peculiar Stars.

THIS we may easily conceive, by considering that God, who made all things for his singular, great, and good Ends, would never have exhibited to us such a fair and spacious Heaven, such a Course, Order, Continuation, and Series of Stars to delight and feed our Eyes, like an empty Shadow, or an idle Picture: But, to the contrary, the Trees, the Roots, the Branches, the Seas, the Rivers, the Streams, and whatever runs thro’ the Veins of the Earth, or graces the Surface of Sea or Land; yea, whatever is, or may be distinguished by the Variety of Things or Names, together with our Bodies, and their implanted Humours, He subjected to the Heavens, that they might perceive some superiour Impulse, Motion, and Agitation from the Stars, and experience the Utility of their Effects.

HENCE the learned Arabians ascribed the Bodies, Actions, and Dispositions of Men to Stars and Signs: As Proclus teacheth, that Superiours and Inferiours are manifestly one in the other. But these Inferiours are defin’d, some to be Solar, others Lunar; on which the Sun and Moon make strong Impressions, like those of the Stars and Signs they are under. In reference to which, they distribute the human Body among the Planets and Signs of the Zodiack; and most ingeniously demonstrate, that as the Triplicities of those Signs answer one another, and agree in Celestials, so they also concur in the Members of the Body; which Observation, daily Experience also confirms. As for example: By a Coldness of the Feet, the Belly and Breast are affected; and these Members answering to the same Triplicity, any proper Medicine apply’d to the one, helps the other; as by warming the Feet, the Pain of the Belly ceaseth.

WHEREFORE, if we consider the many occult Qualities, and secret Influences of celestial Bodies, besides these three which are manifest to us, namely, Heat, Light, and Motion, we shall readily and rationally agree with Astrologers, as well as Philosophers, in this Point; that the celestial Bodies concur with other natural Causes, in the regular Procession of all the different Steps of the Conformation and Constitution of human Conception.

MOREOVER, in the Work of Animation, they concur not only physically, but efficiently; not as formal, final, or material Causes, but meerly by Action; upon which Great Efficient, all other Causes depend. And yet they concur efficiently not as the only particular, immediate, and proximous Agents, but as the common remote, physical Agents, moving physically. Now this Aristotle also plainly teacheth, saying; that, “As this inferiour World hath Existence from superiour Beings, so all worldly Existences must necessarily be ordered and directed by those, as the common efficient Cause of all Sub-celestials.”

BUT I would farther observe, that the only Action of those Bodies in this Work, is to dispose and govern all proper, special, and singular Causes pertaining to Nature, preserving them physically; that is, by their Motion, Light, and Heat.

THE reason I call those Bodies the remote, not the proximous Agents in the Work, is, because they do not in Substance, Motion, or Light, immediately reach or touch the Foetus; but only, by their secret Qualities and Influences, extended to these inferiour Orbs, penetrate through, and affect the Womb, tho’ never so closely shut up: By which means, the Spirit and Power of the Seeds, the Faculties of the Womb, and all concurring Causes are fomented, govern’d, promoted, preserv’d, and determin’d.

HOWEVER, in this Constitution, (whatever natural Causes may be advanc’d) the great God is indisputably and undeniably the prime and principal Efficient: for all other Causes, whether proximous or remote, without his Concurrence, would be but vain and insufficient, for the following Reasons.

I. HE is the only primary Agent, not physical, because not acting physically; not operating by Motion, because immoveable: but without Motion, and all other physical Helps, he powerfully and clearly displays Himself, most eminently officiating by his own All-sufficiency, and Appointment of Nature.

II. HE likewise, as the prime, common, remote, and physical Cause, governs and directs all other secundary Causes supereminently, which are subjected to, and dependent upon Himself; in constituting, organizing, and fomenting the CONCEPTION.

III. HE finally, as the proper, proximous, and immediate Cause, or Agent, directing none else, nor using any other Assistance in the Work, neither being directed nor assisted by any other, gives to the organiz’d human Foetus its greatest Completion; and the ultimate finishing Stroke of consummate Perfection, by infusing and communicating to it a Mind in a rational SOUL, by which the Foetus becomes MAN.

AND this Infusion comes immediately from, and of Himself, who is (in Aristotle’s Words): “The Form and Former of the Universe, the ultimate End, the final and efficient Cause of all celestial Bodies, and created Beings.”

BUT now, as to the Time of this great Work of Animation, Naturalists agree, that it requires double the Space that Formation had from Conception: which seems so far probable, because at that time, and no sooner, the Infant may be sensibly perceiv’d to move; and that by the Influence of calid and siccid Mars, who (according to Astrologers) now takes charge of it in the third Month. For by virtue of his hot Quality, he perfecteth the three principal Members, separating the Legs, Arms, and Head (in due proportion) from the rest: Wherefore this auspicious Planet is called the Author of the Infant’s Motion. So that, in fine, conformable to what is laid down in the preceeding Chapter, the Work of Animation is perfected, at soonest, about the 70th, and at latest, about the 100th Day from CONCEPTION. Which being done, I proceed to the next principal Work in constituting the Man.

NATURALISTS allow the Infant, for its ripening in the Womb, and to the legitimate Time of Birth, treble the Space that Animation had; as Physicians agree in allowing this treble the Time that the first Motion had from Conception: and from hence the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, &c. are called ripening Months.

IN the fourth Month, Astrologers will have the Planet Sol to reign over the Infant; whose calid Quality gives it entire Life, fully perfecting the Members, excavating the Bones, and amplifying the Pores and Passages of the Body.

AS, in the Fifth, Venus presides over the Infant; who, by her Frigidity and Humidity, mitigates the Heat and Siccity impressed on it by the superiour Planets, absolutely perfecting the Lineaments of the external Members. According to which Principles, she, in a word, forms the Privities of both Sexes; and adds Beauty and Ornament to the Nose, Mouth, Hands, Fingers, and all the rest of the visible Parts.

AS also, in the sixth Month, Mercury takes his Turn to assist the Infant, which puts the last finishing Hand to the Work; perfecting the Organs of the Voice, enlarging the Eyes, Eye-lids, Brows, and Nails; promoting and confirming the Instruments of Motion; and at last, absolving and compleating whatever the others have commenced.

I shall only farther hypothetically observe, that, if the Infant was perfectly form’d about the 35th Day, it was animated about the 70th, and consequently will be born about the 210th Day, the last of the 7th Month.

IF the Formation was perfected about the 40th Day, the Animation happen’d about the 80th, and the BIRTH will (unluckily) happen towards the close of the 8th Month.

IF Formation happen’d the 45th, Animation follow’d the 90th Day, and the BIRTH will succeed about the close of 9 Months.

IF Formation was compleated the 50th, Animation follow’d the 100th Day, and consequently the BIRTH^[21] will appear about the last of 10 Months; and so of any other certain Time, definite Day, or stated Hour.

IT is, in all the above-mentioned Cases, to be farther animadverted, that the Male, as he proceeds from the more calid, siccid, and spirituous Seed, arrives sooner to Perfection in Formation and Animation; and is consequently sooner born than the Female, whose Nature is more cold, flaccid, and weak, even in the Womb: Hence an Allowance of a few Days more or less^[22], may be justly made, according to the Sex.

THIS is manifest, that the Foetus is nourished in the first Months, by the Umbilical Vessels only: But the several following Reasons engage me to think; that, in the latter Months, it is alimented by the Mouth also, and That by a glutinous limpid Liquor: Which, being (probably) secreted from the Amnion for that Purpose, is found to surround it.

I. BECAUSE this Liquor, which seems very proper for that Use, is found not only in the Mouth, but also in the OEsophagus and Stomach of the INFANT.

II. IT is found changed in the smaller Intestines^[23]; and being chylify’d in the Ventricle, it turns to Excrements, call’d Meconium, in the Rectum, or strait Gut.

III. WE find a large Quantity of this Liquor, surrounding the Foetus in the first Months, and but little in the last; which cannot probably be consum’d any other way, than by the INFANT.

IV. BECAUSE^[24] that the Oesophagus, Intestines, lacteal Vessels, and thoracick Duct, may continue open, and be gradually accustomed to their respective Functions.

THE Infant’s Situation, in the first and middle Months, is various; but, in the latter, it is commonly observ’d to be of an oval Figure: Sitting, with the Head hanging down, and the Chin upon the Breast; the Neck bending forwards, the Back is round; embracing the Knees, which are drawn up towards the Cheeks with its Arms; the Hands commonly hanging down, seem to embrace the Feet; the Heels cling close to the Buttocks; and while the Head is uppermost, the Face is towards the Mother’s Belly.

BUT about the Time of Birth; the Head, which was always before Lighter, becomes considerably Heavier than any other Part. And its ponderous Bulk bearing much smaller Proportion to its Substance than it did before, must needs (consequently) tumble Heels over Head, in the Waters of the Membranes; and the Head falling downwards, the Feet get uppermost, and the Face is turn’d towards the Mother’s Back.

BUT because this is a painful and irksome Posture, however favourable for its Exit; the Motions it makes for its Relief, occasion frequent Pains to the Mother, which cause a Contraction of the WOMB, for the Expulsion of the Infant.

AND, in short, this being the natural Posture of the Infant in the WOMB, its preternatural Positions may from thence be easily conceived.

THE MEMBRANES of the Infant, are Two in number, the one exteriour, call’d CHORION; the other interiour, AMNION: which are so contiguously joined one to the other, that they appear like one and the same MEMBRANE; and, because they are only separable by Art, as a Silk-Lining from a Cloth, are sometimes call’d the double MEMBRANE.

THE Chorion is rough and unequal on the Outside, but smoother within; where it closely unites itself to the thinner and transparent Amnion.

THIS Amnion covers the Placenta, and is fixed to the Inside of the Womb, by its Circumference on all Sides.

THESE Membranes contain the Waters, in which the Infant swims; which Waters encrease along with the Infant, generating by degrees, and proceeding from the moist Humours, exhal’d (by way of Transpiration) from the tender Infant’s porous Body.

THESE Waters are of infinite Service to the Infant, during the time of Maturation: As they are to both Mother and Child in the time of BIRTH; which hereafter will more amply appear. And as in Conception, these Membranes are form’d before the EMBRYO; being, as they are commonly call’d, the Coats of the Egg: So, in time of Labour, they always present themselves, with their peculiar Waters, to the ORIFICE, before the Infant approaches.

IN Case of TWINS or more Children; each has its proper Membranes and Waters apart, in which they are separately wrap’d up.

THE SECUNDINE is a thick carnous Mass, of a soft vasculous Substance, compos’d of the maternal Menstrua; which waxes upon the outside of the Chorion in proportion with the Growth of the Foetus; encreasing (as the Waters do) together with the Infant. It is also called the Womb-Cake, or Placenta Uterina; but most commonly the Woman’s AFTER-BIRTH.

IT is call’d Placenta, because of its flat circular Figure, resembling a pretty thick round Cake; being about eight Inches Diameter, and one Thick; a little thicker in the Middle, where the Umbilical Vessels are fixed, than at the Edges.

ITS thickest spongious Part (properly call’d the Placenta) adheres to the Bottom of the Womb by innumerable Vessels, and the Interposition of a very thin Membrane, which is a Continuation of the Chorion.

ITS Concave Part towards the Infant, is join’d to the Navel-String, and encompass’d with a smooth Membrane, which it derives from the Chorion and Amnion.

THE Vessels terminating in the Navel-String, are inserted at one End, almost in the Center of the Placenta; as the other End adheres to the Navel of the Infant.

THE SECUNDINE is rough and unequal on the Outside, and smooth and soft on the Inside; and cannot be extracted, without breaking the mentioned Vessels: From hence an Effusion of Humours and Fluxion of Blood always follows it; which (according to the Woman’s State of Health) is of a fairer, or darker, red Colour.

THE Use of the SECUNDINE, is to receive and absorb the Nutritious Juice from the Womb; (as the Intestines imbibe the Chyle) which it afterwards transmits to the Infant, by the Umbilical Vein.

IN Case of Twins, or more Children, if conceived at one Time, they have but one common SECUNDINE, (notwithstanding the contrary Opinion of others) which adheres to the Fund of the Womb, by the Placenta, as above: Wherefore I must needs reject the Testimony of such Midwives, who give out that they have found the SECUNDINE, fix’d to any other Part of the Womb; tho’ I experimentally know, that it is sometimes found in the Hinder Part near the Loins, sometimes in the Forepart, sometimes near the Diaphragma, sometimes in the Right, and sometimes in the Left Side.

BUT however, we should be grossly mistaken, if from hence, we did conclude, that the SECUNDINE adher’d to any other Part, than the Bottom of the Womb: Since such erroneous Apprehensions are merely occasion’d by the various Motion, or oblique Position of the Womb; as hereafter will appear more at large.

THE three Umbilical Vessels consist of one Vein and Two Arteries; which compose the NAVEL-STRING, and are wrap’d up in one strong Membrane, proceeding from the Chorion and Amnion, between the Navel and Placenta.

THE Vein arises in the Placenta, from innumerable minute Vessels; proceeding thence with Spiral Contortions between the Arteries, thro’ the NAVEL-STRING, and Navel, to the Liver of the Infant; terminating in the Sinus of the Vena Porta, into which it pours the Blood and nutritious Juice received in the Placenta; which immediately proceeds to the Vena Cava, and Heart, thro’ a Cylindrical Canal (call’d Venosus) opposite to the Umbilical Vein.

THE Arteries, which are scarce half so large as the Vein, arise from the Iliacs of the Infant, or from the Aorta. They pass both Sides of the Bladder to the Navel, and thence through the NAVEL-STRING, by the like Spiral Windings, to the Placenta: where, after distributing some Branches to the Amnion and Chorion; they are divided into a very great Number of Sprigs, transferring the Blood from the Foetus to the SECUNDINE.

THESE Two Arteries, with the above-mentioned one Vein, make up a certain Part, twisted like a Rope, about one Inch thick, and near a Yard long, call’d the NAVEL-STRING; which is so ordained of this Length, that the Infant, by its Motion, may not pull the Placenta from the Womb; and that, by its Means, the SECUNDINE may be commodiously extracted after the Birth.

IN Case of Twins, or more Children, every one has its proper NAVEL-STRING; the chief Use of which is, to convey the Maternal Blood and nutritious Juices by the Veins to the Foetus, for its Aliment: The Arteries carrying back that which is unfit for this Use, to the Placenta; whilst the Foetus is still supply’d with more by the Vein: So that there’s a continual Circulation, or Communication, between the Mother and her Infant.