Part 13

I. BECAUSE _then_, if we will believe _Astrologers_, JUPITER now returns with his _Serene Aspect_, by his pure healing _Heat_ and _Humidity_, cherishing and renovating the _Life_ of the INFANT (which consists of those two _vital Qualities_) and quite effacing the former _Mischiefs_ and _Injuries_ of noxious SATURN: whereby he renders _This ninth Month_ not only most conducive to the BIRTH, but also to the future _Welfare_ and _Prosperity_ of the INFANT.

II. BECAUSE this auspicious _Number_ NINE is dedicated to the MUSES, according to the Order of the Celestial SPHERES: Hence as we have _nine moveable Spheres_, _viz._ the _Primum Mobile_, the _Starry Heaven_, and the _Spheres_ of _SATURN_, _JUPITER_, _MARS_, _SOL_, _VENUS_, _MERCURY_, and _LUNA_; so there are _Nine_ MUSES appropriated to them, to accomplish their _Harmony_ or _Consort_.

III. BECAUSE to denote the _Sufficiency_ of this NUMBER, there are also _nine_ ORDERS and CHOIRS of blessed ANGELS; namely, _Seraphims_, _Cherubims_, _Thrones_, _Dominations_, _Powers_, _Virtues_, _Principalities_, _Archangels_, and _Angels_: Which the _Prophet EZEKIEL_[125] emblematically figures out by Nine STONES; as the _Saphire_, _Emerald_, _Carbuncle_, _Beril_, _Onyx_, _Chrysolite_, _Jasper_, _Topaz_, and the _Sardis_.

BUT besides the _Nine_ internal and external SENSES, mentioned in _Sect._ I. _Chap._ 5. more plainly and familiarly denote the _Perfection_ of this NUMBER: As, in like manner, the most learned _Authors_ of all Ages take great Notice of it in the AGE of _Man_, calling _this Ninth_, together with the _Seventh_, CLIMACTERICAL _Years_.

NOT to mention the _Ninth Hour_, in which our Blessed SAVIOUR breathed out his Holy Spirit; the _Ninth Day_ the _Antients_ buried their DEAD, and many such remarkable Instances. Yet however, in most _Natural_ and _Philosophical Cases_, this NUMBER implies still some _Imperfection_; because it comes short of the _Complement_ of the Great _Number_ TEN (being deficient by ONE) as St. _Austin_ interprets it of the TEN LEPERS. Wherefore not to go too far in these MYSTICAL _Matters_, I proceed to

CHAP. XXXVI. _Of a Ten-Months BIRTH._

AS to this Point, it is not only True in _Part_; to wit, _during the First Ten Days_ of the _10th Month_, as SOME would have it, but rather (in my Opinion) _Altogether_, and at any time of it, as LEGITIMATE as the _9th Month_; according to _Plautus_ the Comick _Poet_; _Tunc illa quam compresserat, decimo post exacto Mense hanc peperit Filiam_.

FOR altho’ _Women_ commonly reckon their BIRTHS more frequent in the _Ninth Month_; yet many _Learned Men_ have left it (as a doubtful Controversy) undecided whether THAT or THIS be the most proper natural Time: Whereas _Some_ of the _first_ RANK[126] have more positively determined a _Legitimate BIRTH_ to happen in the _Tenth Month_ ONLY, according also to _Virgil_’s excellent Poetical Computation—

“_Matri longa decem tulerunt fastidia Menses._”

MOREOVER, for a farther Proof of this Argument, I need only refer to _Solomon_, the wisest of _Kings_; who being the greatest _Master of all ARTS_, cannot be supposed to have been ignorant of This _Truth_: And whose express Decision of this Doubt, we have set down in the Beginning of the 7th _Chapter_ of his _Book_ of _WISDOM_; saying, “_I myself also am a mortal Man, and the Offspring of him that was first made of the Earth_, _and in my Mother’s Womb was fashioned to be Flesh in the time of TEN MONTHS_, &c.”

BUT farther yet, as to the _Nature_ of this _Month_, _MARS_ is presumed to succeed in it, who indulges the INFANT by his _amicable Qualities_, or _benign Influences_: For _He_ is deemed a Friend to _LIFE_, as he affords _Vitality_ to the _BIRTHS_ happening in it.

AND again, this _Number_ TEN is reckoned a _Compleat_ and _Universal_ NUMBER in all _Sciences_; because we cannot account beyond it, but by _Replication_, a _Re-assumption_ of the UNIT, or _Repetition_ of the _Nine Figures_, to perfect the Progression. But farther still, to denote the Excellency and Perfection of this MONTH, there are TEN _Singers_ of _Psalms_ mentioned in Holy Scripture; namely, _ADAM_, _ABRAHAM_, _MELCHISEDECH_, _MOSES_, _ASAPH_, _DAVID_, _SOLOMON_, and the _three Sons of CHORAH_: TEN _Musical Instruments_: TEN _Strings_ in the _Psaltery_: TEN _Curtains_ in the _Temple_: TEN _Commandments_ instituted and given directly by GOD himself: AND, in fine, the TENTH Day after _Ascension_ the _HOLY GHOST_ came down, _&c._

THERE are besides also TEN _Parts_, of which MAN himself consists intrinsically; _viz._ the _Spirit_, _Brain_, _Lungs_, _Heart_, _Liver_, _Gall_, _Spleen_, _Kidneys_, _Testicles_, and _Matrix_: And likewise TEN _Simple Integral Parts_ constituting the MAN, to wit, _Bone_, _Cartilage_, _Nerve_, _Fibre_, _Ligament_, _Artery_, _Vein_, _Membrane_, _Flesh_, and _Skin_. In short just so, after this manner, there are TEN _Months_ required to form and maturate the _MAN_, in the substantial _Completion_ of THESE to Perfection.

BUT, after All, lest I should be thought, by this way of Reasoning on the _Numbers_ of the _MONTHS_, to vend some fictitious _Notions_ for mechanical _Causes_, or vain _Fictions_ for the _Laws of Nature_, I shall in this Place, to avoid that Censure or Reproach, make a small _Digression_, and that upon _NUMBERS_ in general.

FIRST then, I think it appears very Plain from the _Three preceding Chapters_, that _NUMBERS_ are of a certain wonderful Efficacy and Virtue even in SUPERNATURALS.

SECONDLY, In _Natural Things_ also the Virtues of _NUMBERS_ (so _mystically_ constituted and _mysteriously_ intended) are conspicuously manifest: As is evident in the _Herb_, call’d PENTAPHYLLON, which is said to resist _Poisons_ by Virtue of _Number FIVE_; as _one Leaf_ of it taken _twice_ a day in _Wine_, cures the QUOTIDIAN; _three_, the TERTIAN; and four, the QUARTAN _Fever_. So likewise in the _Herb_ HELIOTROPIUM TRICOCCON[127], _three Grains_ whereof cures the TERTIAN: and _four_, the QUARTAN _Ague_. In like manner, as a _Serpent_, if struck ONCE with a _Spear_, _dies_; but if TWICE, is said to recover _Strength_. So much for the Curious.

HOWEVER, These and many other Things might be mentioned, both in _Natural_, and _Supernatural Beings_, upon the wonderful _Power_ and _Efficacy_ of _NUMBERS_: Which plausible _Doctrine_ not only the most Eminent _Philosophers_, but also the most Learned _Catholick DOCTORS_, namely, St. _Jerom_, _Austin_, _Origen_, _Ambrose_, _Athanasius_, &c. All unanimously teach; as well as the most famous Dr. _Rabanus_ (Archbishop of _Mentz_) who in his Time compos’d an excellent _Book_ to this purpose chiefly upon the _Virtues_ of Numbers.

BUT notwithstanding all This, I am far from believing that there is any peculiar _Virtue_ in _NUMBERS_, considered _abstractedly_: Only, I would hereby demonstrate, that as the _Omniscient CREATOR_ has appointed every thing a _certain TIME_ for its _Production_, _Augmentation_, _Perfection_, _Declension_, and _Duration_; so in all probability, the same _Decree_ or Good-Will of _Divine Providence_ may have ordered _NUMBERS_, and _Sett-Days_ or _Times_ to concur with the apparent Necessity of _Corporeal_, _Natural_, and _Mechanical_ CAUSES. For in Truth, at last, I cannot think that, unless there had been some great and distinct _Mysterys_ of _GOD_ and _Nature_ comprehended in _NUMBERS_, the Great DIVINE[128] would otherwise have recommended That _Search_ to the World of Understanding to count the _NUMBER_ of the _Beast_: saying, _It is the Number of a Man_. But to proceed:

CHAP. XXXVII. _Of an Eleven-Months, and all posteriour BIRTHS._

As to this MONTH, many _Authors_[129] agree to legitimate its _BIRTH_; because of several repeated _Instances_ that really happen’d in their Days: To which I can add _ONE_ of my own proper _Experience_, during my itinerant _Practice_ in the City of _Prague_. Where, as I came recommended to the Acquaintance of some Eminent _Physicians_ of the Place, I happen’d once to be call’d (by _one_ of them) to a _Lady_ in LABOUR; whom I had the good Fortune to deliver immediately, of a fine, lusty, and lively _Girl_. After which, I had the Honour to attend her in _Child-Bed_; I mean, to visit and prescribe for her, by the concurring Advice of my Honoured _Friend_ (the most Learned and Ingenious Dr. _Von Overberg_, who was her near Relation) in order to prevent some _Disasters_ under which she had formerly suffer’d on the like Occasion. Upon This, she was pleas’d to tell me out of her own Mouth, that, before the _Day_ of her DELIVERY, her _Husband_, (who was a _Colonel_ in the Imperial Service) had been gone to the _Army_, then in _Sicily_, TEN MONTHS and _two Days_; so that this _Proculean_ CHILD was born (at soonest) the _Third Day_ of the _Eleventh Month_. And in this _Case_, I dare say, I was no ways mistaken, or impos’d upon; that _Lady_ being endued with no less true _Honour_ and strict _Virtue_, than she was otherways deservedly esteem’d, of a singular good _Character_, and great _Distinction_ in that Place.

UPON which happy Occasion, I was the first Time fully satisfy’d, and convinc’d, as to the due Proportion and Distinction of the _Four controverted Terms_; _viz._ that, by how much the _latter Part_ of the TENTH MONTH is preferable to the _Beginning_ of the NINTH; by so much is the _Beginning_ of the ELEVENTH, preferable to any _BIRTH_[130] happening in the _latter Part_ of the SEVENTH MONTH: So that, upon the whole Matter, I can find no plausible Reason why All _Those_ may not be accounted _Legitimate terms_ of Time in _Child-Bearing_, as well as the _latter Part_ of the NINTH, and _Beginning_ of the TENTH MONTH.

WHICH probable Opinion we may the more readily agree to, and acquiesce in; especially because (if what has been said of the rest of the PLANETS, in the respective _Chapters_ of _This_ and the _First SECTION_, be true) the SUN in this ELEVENTH MONTH returns to take care of the INFANT (yet unborn;) by virtue of whose vivacious _Influence_ and beneficent _Quality_, _BIRTHS_ of this MONTH are accounted no less _vital_ and _successful_, than any _others_ differently time’d.

THERE are also many _Authors_, over and above, who make mention of _BIRTHS_, in the _Twelfth_, _Thirteenth_, _Fourteenth_, and _Fifteenth_ MONTH. Yes verily, and there is _one remarkable Instance_, of the Physical _College_ at _Montpelier_, where a grand _Consultation_ was held about the Year 1590, in _Favour_ of a certain MARCHIONESS; who (after some fair _Legitimate BIRTHS_) had _Two_[131] running successively, the _one_ in the _Eighteenth_, the _other_ in the _Twentieth_ MONTH: upon which, divers curious _Reasonings_ happened, and various _Sentiments_ were deliver’d. However, because such _Precedents_ are so very few and uncommon, I shall take up no more _Time_ about them. Only

AS to what is said in this, and the preceding Chapters, touching the _Months_, I desire to be understood, as meaning _Solar_, not _Lunar_ Months: By _Solar_ Months, I mean that Space of Time, which the _Sun_ continues in either, or every, _Sign_ of the _Zodiack_, comprehending thirty Days.

BUT it may (perhaps) be objected, that the _Antients_ (especially the _Greeks_) reckon’d their Years by _Lunar Revolutions_ only, and had none else but _Lunar Months_. To which I answer, that the _Wise_ and _Divine HIPPOCRATES_ computes[132] the Time of _Birth_ by _Decads of Weeks_; which _Decad_ contains Seventy, as every Week consists of Seven full Days: Hence _He_ makes out the Legitimacy of a _Seven-Months Child_; because that _Term_ comprehends _three Decads_ of Weeks, or 210 Days: And hence it is evident, that he has measur’d that Time of _Gestation_ by _Solar_ Months, of which each contains 30 Days, answering alike in _Births_ of all Months. For if we _divide_ those 210 Days by 7, for the Number of Months, we shall find a _Quotient_ of 30 Days to each; or if we _multiply_ 30 by 7, we’ll find a _Product_ of 210 Days in all. And this _Computation_ he farther elucidates, saying[133], _As thirty Suns form the Fœtus, so seventy move it, and two hundred and ten perfect it_. Hence it is evident and certain, that HIPPOCRATES also considered and regarded the _Circuits_ of the _Sun_. Which leads me farther, to

CHAP. XXXVIII. _Of the Reasons why ONE Number of Months, Weeks, and Days, is more Auspicious to BIRTH, than ANOTHER._

WHAT has been said in the _Seven preceeding Chapters_ particularly, concerning _Months_, _Weeks_, &c. leads me directly to descant upon _THESE_ in general: Which _Topick_, tho’ I could willingly resign it to the more _Judicious_ to enter upon, and recommend to the more _Learned_ to discuss; yet lest I may be thought to evade or omit any material _Point_ which I have undertaken, I shall endeavour (according to the Best of my weak _Capacity_) to explain, _en passant_, and to unfold this _Mystery_, by declaring the most plausible _Orthodox Reasons_ why _ONE Number of Days, Weeks and Months, is more Auspicious to the BIRTH_, and affords more _Vitality_ to the CHILD than _ANOTHER_.

IN handling of which _Subject-Matter_, as I propose to be very _Brief_, so I shall only observe in short, that such _Reasons_ are chiefly founded upon a _double Principle_; That is, of daily _Experience_, and natural _Knowledge_.

I. UPON daily _Experience_; in that it is notoriously well known that CHILDREN born in _different Months_, are not equally _Vital_ or _Lively_; and in that it is evidently manifest, that the _7th_, _9th_, and _10th_, and perhaps the _11th Month_ also, are endued with some certain _Virtues_, and prevalent _Qualitys_ before all OTHERS in this Case.

II. UPON Natural _Knowledge_; insomuch that it is the Opinion of all Judicious _Naturalists_ (either _Philosophers_ or _Physicians_) that this _inferiour World_ is moved and govern’d by _superiour Bodys_, and that all _Terrestrial Vicissitudes_ and _Changes_ depend upon _Cælestials_, and those chiefly upon the SUN and MOON: which both possess great _influential Virtues_, and exercise great directing _Powers_ over all _Inferiour Bodys_. From hence the _Antients_ always maintain’d, that the _Periodical Accessions_ and _Circulations_ of many DISTEMPERS depended entirely on their noxious _Influences_; especially upon that of the Moon, because of her _Proximity_.

NAY, some _Authors_ have advanced so far, as to ascribe the only _Cause_ of them to the _Powers_ of the STARS and PLANETS. But tho’ I am no ways to countenance _These Notions_ to this ridiculous Length, nor in the least to defend the vain _Fictions_, or foolish _Ostentations_ of the vulgar _ASTROLOGERS_; yet I shall make no scruple to assert that both the STARS and PLANETS are concurring or co-operating, tho not sole _efficient Causes_, in these _Cases_: And This, I hope, I may rationally be allow’d to do, supposing I had not the direct _Authority_ of such a Great Man, as the most Learned and Excellent Dr. _Mead_[134], over and above to back me; who says, “_It is moreover to be consider’d, that the rest of the_ STARS _and_ PLANETS _have each their Power and Influence, which tho’ they be not Equal to that of the_ SUN _and_ MOON; _yet notwithstanding they conspire to augment or diminish their Powers on human Bodys; and this Concourse is of so great Consequence_ (says this Eminent Author) _that we must refer to it the sudden and hidden Power of most Distempers in all Countries_, &c.”

BUT the _Powers_ of the two great and glorious LUMINARYS, we are more _sensible_ of, as they are more manifestly _conspicuous_; and _These_ we may in many other _Cases_, (as well as in _BIRTHS_) hold for _efficient Causes_.

FOR who knows not that the Influence of the SUN fructifies all sorts of _Grain_, and ripens _Fruit_, _Corn_, &c? Who knows not that by its _Force_ or _Influx_ only, divers _Animals_, _Insects_, &c. engender and spring out of the _Dust_ and the _Earth_? Or, who knows not that its _Power_ prompts all Creatures to _Coition_, and excites them to propagate their respective _Species_, each one its own _Kind_, &c.

NEITHER is the _Influence_ of the MOON less evident: For does it not change the _Constitution_ of the WEATHER, raise the AIR, heighten the WINDS, swell and exagitate the _Surface_ of the SEA, and finally, augment and increase the very _Tides_ of the OCEAN? Do not all _Animals_, as well as the _Menstruous_ and _Pregnant Woman_ sensibly feel the _Power_ of the LUNAR _Influence_? Yes verily, as my last quoted _Author_ justly[135] observes, _unless their REGIMEN be perverted, by which means the Body may be disqualify’d or rendred unapt to receive the Impression_.

NOW _this_ does not only happen to _Four-footed Beasts_, and all that possess the dry _LAND_; but also more especially to the _Inhabitants_ of the _SEA_: And how remarkable is it, that the very _Shell-Fish_, (how closely soever shut up, and how low soever buried, as it were, in the very _ABYSS_ of the _Deeps_) cannot be exempted from the sensible Impression of this LUNAR _Power_? To this Point and Purpose (I think) _Lucilius_[136], that Learned Poet, manifestly alludes, saying,

_“Luna alit Ostrea, & implet Echinos, Muribus “Fibras & Pecui addit._

And after _Him_, _Manilius_[137], that great _Astronomer_, writes _à propos_ upon this _Topick_, when he says,

_“Sic submersa fretis Concharum & Carcere clausa “Ad Lunæ motum variant Animalia Corpus._

THESE Things then being evidently so, and it being a most certain and undeniable _Truth_, that the SUN and MOON have each their respective _Influence_ upon all _Inferiour Bodys_: (as has also been already shewn in _Sect._ I. _Chap._ 8.) I come now to observe that such _Mutations_ as are _Quick_ and _Brief_, or such _Changes_ as are accomplished in a _Few Days_, may be entirely ascribed to the _Power_ of the MOON: As in the _Reverse_ of these _Cases_, which cannot be determin’d under a _Long Time_; the _Course_ of the SUN is more chiefly to be consider’d and principally regarded.

SO _Acute Fevers_ (because _SHORT_) are generally assuaged and dissolved in _14 Days_: Whereas _Quartans_ (because _LONG_) on the contrary are only determin’d in _six Months_. It’s true indeed, the _Antients_ ascribed these _Laws_ of NATURE, to _Pythagorean Numbers_, and distinguish’d the _Times_ of FEVERS according to their _Critical Days_, which they strictly animadverted, as they laid great _Stress_ upon that Ceremonious Observation.

HOWEVER, _Galen_ made a far stricter _Disquisition_ in this Matter, and conceiv’d (as the _Truth_ indeed is) that the _Accessions_ and _Crises_ of FEVERS had no _Connexion_ with any _NUMBERS_ or _odd Days_, but took _Origin_ only from the _Efficacy_ of the MOON: (as is more fully explain’d in _Chap._ 28. of this _Section_.) According to which _MAXIM_[138], _Acute Distempers_ have their _Circulations_ in _Seven Days_, and take their _Accesses_ and _Declinations_ from the _Course_ of the MOON; which every _Seventh Day_, when NEW, HALF-FULL, or FULL, has her greatest _Influence_.

HE farther observes that the _Quarter-Day_ of the MOON may fall upon the _6th_ or _8th_ Day of the DISTEMPER, and consequently _either_ of _these Days_ may determine it as well as the _SEVENTH_. For (according to Dr. _Mead_’s excellent Judgment) the _Dissolution_ of a FEVER sometimes happens _To-day_, which according to the ordinary _Course_ of the DISTEMPER ought to happen _To-morrow_; or, on the contrary, the _same_ may be procrastinated till _To-morrow_, which might be expected _To-day_: And _That_ for the various _Reasons_[139] most ingeniously by him alledg’d and irrefragably established.

IN fine, such _Mutations_ and _Circulations_ of Things as are perfected and perform’d in a _few Days_, are directed by the _Property_ of the MOON: whereas such _Changes_ and _Alterations_ as require the Dissolution and Determination of _Months_, refer only to the _Government_ of the SUN. Which I would have thus candidly understood, _viz._

AS from the beginning of the _Month_ to the FULL-MOON are almost _14 Days_, which accomplish half the _Lunar Circuit_, and comprehend two _Quarter-Changes_; so from the Beginning of _Spring_ to the End of _Summer_ are six _Months_, which comprehend _two Seasons_ or half of the Year: And so that _Mediety_ or _Half of the Month_, from _FULL-MOON_, to the Time of _Occultation_ or _NEW-MOON_, answers to the other _six Months_, from the beginning of _Autumn_ to the last of _Winter_, which conclude the other Half of the Year.

FOR as we divide the _Course_ of the _MOON_ by _4 Weeks_, according to its 4 quarter _Changes_; so we distribute the _Course_ of the _SUN_ into _4 Stations_, according to the _four Seasons_ of the Year: Hence it is that all _Times_ of the _Year_ answer in proportion to the different _Weeks_ of the _Month_, and all _Stations_ of the _SUN_ (in like manner) to the different _Changes_ of the _MOON_. Wherefore as the _7th Day_, which is the 4th Part of the _Lunar Month_, determines _acute Distempers_; so the _Change_ of the _Season_ of the Year dissolves _Diuturnal Diseases_. The _SPRING_ commonly shakes off any _Malady_ generated in _WINTER_, as the _SUMMER_ does what is begun in the _SPRING_; and the _AUTUMN_ discusseth any _Affection_ excited in _SUMMER_, as the _WINTER_ does what happen’d in _AUTUMN_.

THESE Things being thus cleared-up by the way, we have now only to consider, that the Time of _GESTATION_ is no _Acute_, but a _Diuturnal Effect_; and that BIRTH is nothing else but the CRISIS of the same _Affection_, according to[140]_Hippocrates_’s Sense. Which, if so, it is evidently manifest that, in defining the _Time_ of BIRTH, we ought chiefly to regard the _Course_ of the _SUN_, and strictly observe the _Number_ of _MONTHS_; However so, as not to neglect the _Motions_ of the _MOON_, and consequently, we ought also to consider duly the neat _Number_ of _DAYS_: Wherefore (I say) in BIRTH we are to have a just Regard to, and take a strict Observation of, not only the _Changes_ of the _MOON_, but also of the _Mutations_ of the _SUN_; because both the _One_ and the _Other_ act very powerfully in _BIRTH_. Which I thus beg leave to illustrate as follows, _viz._

AS the _first seven Days_ have the greatest Power of determining _Acute Diseases_, so the _first three Months_ of _GESTATION_ (which answer to those Days) determine the _CONCEPTION_: And as of _those_ the _7th Day_ is the most powerful, so of _these_ the _third Month_ is the most prevalent. From hence it is that the FOETUS suffers such manifest _Alterations_ and _Changes_ of Nature in this MONTH: For it is now metamorphos’d or chang’d from an _Inanimate_ into an _Animate Being_: It now becomes a _Living_ and _Moving Body_, subsisting henceforward by its own proper vivacious _Faculties_; yet not so however, that _this_ MONTH can be presum’d to produce a _vital Birth_: No, because as every perfect and plausible _CRISIS_ of the _7th Day_, requires the _Concurrence_ of the digested _Humour_, together with the _Ability_ and _Strength_ of the _PATIENT_; so in BIRTH, the _Disposition_ of the _INFANT_ must necessarily concur with all _These_, which it can never be suppos’d to do in the short Space of _Three Months_.