carriage, and so deprive them of the fruits of
their labour.

And when the man has withdrawn himself after a suitable time, the woman
should quietly go to rest, with all calmness and composure of mind, free
from all anxious and disturbing thoughts, or any other mental worry. And
she must, as far as possible, avoid turning over from the side on which
she was first lying, and also keep from coughing and sneezing, because
as it violently shakes the body, it is a great enemy to conception.

* * * * *

A

PRIVATE LOOKING-GLASS

FOR THE

FEMALE SEX

* * * * *

PART II

* * * * *

CHAPTER I

_Treating of the several Maladies incident to the womb, with proper
remedies for the cure of each._

The womb is placed in the _hypogastrium_, or lower part of the body, in
the cavity called the _pelvis_, having the straight gut on one side to
protect it against the hardness of the backbone, and the bladder on the
other side to protect it against blows. Its form or shape is like a
virile member, with this exception, that the man's is outside, and the
woman's inside.

It is divided into the neck and body. The neck consists of a hard fleshy
substance, much like cartilage, and at the end of it there is a membrane
placed transversely, which is called the hymen. Near the neck there is a
prominent pinnacle, which is called the door of the womb, because it
preserves the _matrix_ from cold and dust. The Greeks called it
_clitoris_, and the Latins _praeputium muliebre_, because the Roman
women abused these parts to satisfy their mutual unlawful lusts, as St.
Paul says, Romans 1. 26.

The body of the womb is where the child is conceived, and this is not
altogether round, but dilates itself into two angles; the outward part
is full of sinews, which are the cause of its movements, but inside it
is fleshy. It is wrongly said, that in the cavity of the womb there are
seven divided cells or receptacles for the male seed, but anatomists
know that there are only two, and also that those two are not divided by
a partition, but only by a line or suture running through the middle of
it.

At the bottom of the cavity there are little holes called
_cotyledones_, which are the ends of certain veins or arteries, and
serve breeding women to convey nourishment to the child, which is
received by the umbilical and other veins, to c