On babies and gestation. I read somewhere that Aristotle says a baby born
at 7 months is stronger because its early birth shows it has vigorously
fought its way out of the womb instead of being a wuss and waiting until
it was ready. I told this to my pregnant daughter a few years ago who
remarked that Aristotle is the guy who thought men have more teeth than
women. I inquired of a scientist and indeed Aristotle is wrong on that
point. Who knew? Anyway, he's of course wrong on babies, too, who are
pretty passive during the birth process. Aristotle needed to talk to more
women. Now, as for the "term ad quem," so to speak. According to a book I
read by Michael Screech called, as my fuzzy brain recalls, "The
Rabelaisian Marriage"--a mine of information on such matters as the sperm
being made in the brain, which is the noblest part of us, and dribbling
down the spinal column into the testes--in Rabelais's day a child could be
considered legitimate if born within 11 months after the death of the
husband. That's a sign of medical ignorance at the time--but
Dr. Rabelais's own skeptical laughter at the notion is a sign that there
were those who knew better. Anne.
On Thu, 25 Jul 2002, james w. broaddus wrote:
> Helkiah Crooke's _The Body of Man_, 1615, answers the question: "The times
> of the birth of man are the 7. 8. 9. 10. 11 months."
>
> Among other things, Crooke treats the question why 7 month and 9 month
> babies live, while 8 month babies do not unless they are born in Egypt.
>
> All of this and more is on pages 269-70 in the 1631 edition. .
>
> Jim Broaddus
>
> Indiana State Univ. (retired)
> Route 3 Box 1037
> Brodhead, KY 40409
> 606-758-8073
> [log in to unmask]
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: David Wilson-Okamura <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Wednesday, July 24, 2002 11:26 PM
> Subject: How long do babies take?
>
>
> > I'm still stuck on Arthur and Gloriana. According to FQ 1.9.15, Arthur had
> > been seeking for the Faerie Queene for "Nyne monethes" when he met Una.
> And
> > of course RC has been in Orgoglio's dungeon for nine months. We know what
> > that means! (ARTHUR: "RC, I am your father! Join me, and we can rule
> > Fairyland together as father and son!" REDCROSSE: "I'll never join you!
> > Aaaauuuugggghhhhh!")
> >
> > Or do we? I've been rereading the Metamorphoses this week, and Ovid seems
> > to think that it takes ten months to have a baby. My own theory is that
> > ten-month babes are better "baked" than their nine-month cohorts. That's
> > not really the point, though. Does anyone know how long a baby was
> > _expected_ to take in the sixteenth century?
> >
> > -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> > David Wilson-Okamura http://virgil.org [log in to unmask]
> > East Carolina University Virgil reception, discussion, documents, &c
> > -----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
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