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THE PREFACE.

If the following Sheets are not thought so methodically digested, as some Criticks would require, yet, it is to be hoped, they may conduce, in some Measure, to the reforming of an Opinion, which, in general, is the Result of Doctrines, founded by the Ancients upon the most absurd Principles; and though "I do not promise methodical and finished Treatises, but only some short Hints of Natural History, and rude Strokes of Reasoning;" yet I have this for my Plea, that the Expulsion of superstitious Mysteries and Errors, occult Causes, and, in fine, the Promotion of Truth, in some Parts of Natural Knowledge, to the utmost of my Power, are my sole Intention.

Some, perhaps, may ask what I have said in this Treatise, that they did not already know? or may pretend, they did not believe there were Hermaphrodites in the World; to this I answer, that tho' there are some who will give their Reason leave to interfere when a mysterious Matter comes before them, yet of those few who may be called the learned among Men, how many are there that follow the Path of vulgar Errors, rather than take the Trouble of thinking seriously about such a Subject? and, consequently, how few must they be, that ever had a Notion of what appears, in the following Introduction, to have been transacted concerning Hermaphrodites in all Ages and Nations, by the wisest and most learned among them? so far therefore this Undertaking cannot be quite useless.

The Introduction sufficiently points out the Necessity of exhausting this Subject, in the Conviction of those erroneous Notions, propagated from Time to Time, and so long entertained in the World; and the best Manner that occurred to me of proceeding in it, in Hopes to succeed, was, after exhibiting such Reasons as seemed best to deny the Existence of Hermaphrodites in human Nature, to bring together the Opinions of several Authors, and make comparative Animadversions on them; by which Means, I hope, it will not be doubted, but that the Truth, which hitherto has been so clouded and obscured on this Head, may be said at least to begin to dawn, and by abler Hands may hereafter be brought to a clearer Light.

To judge alone of any Performance is somewhat less difficult, than to perform and judge together; it is therefore that the World in general are better Judges than Performers, the Majority of whom will snarl at a Word or Sentence, as the Standers-by often do at a Gamester's Manner of playing a Cast, they would have played themselves another Way, though perhaps not so well; and, therefore, however imperfect this little Work may be, as it means only to search for Truth, I hope the Reader will be so kind as to make some Allowance for it's Imperfection; for if it should meet with Censure, that can amount to no more than a Condemnation of some particular Thing, in a Work which in general is, at least, well intended.

THE INTRODUCTION

An indolent Person is always the most credulous of Novelty, at the same Time that his Supineness hinders him from examining into the Truth of any Rumour whatsoever. And this Kind of Passion is of the meanest Class, not only as it argues some Contempt or Neglect of Truth, but also as it is productive of a very great Evil, in setting a Limit or Bar to the Progress of Knowledge, and is therefore a vast Disadvantage to Society in general; from such a one as this, not the least publick Good, no more than private Benefit to himself, can flow; and the Man who has not a Desire to cultivate that innate Curiosity, which is every one's Property, is unmindful of one of the greatest Duties incumbent on him; but when it is duly and honourably modified, and employed in the Search of useful Affairs only, it qualifies him for social Life, and renders him capable of being of Service in his Generation.

All these are the Stars directing to the Haven of Science here, whom, if observed with Attention, it is no wonder if their Followers emulate to overturn Errors, and undeceive the Crowd that is hurried along through Mazes and Labyrinths of Misrepresentations, to hunt out the Truth, which is often very intricately environed round with dark Veils of Ignorance or Superstition.

Some time after the Law was made, the River began to flow freely, and swelled again over the Banks, as before. The Superstition of the Inhabitants was gratified, who, no doubt, owed the Restoration of the Waters to the cruel Law made against those miserable human Creatures.

'Androgyni are in their Natures to be esteemed partly as Men, partly as Women; partly as both Man and Woman; and partly as neither Man nor Woman, but as they appear in their proper Persons.

'Whosoever would know more of the Laws concerning Hermaphrodites, may consult the Doctors and Expounders of the Law; these being sufficient concerning them.'

'Every Heir is either a Male, or Female, or an Hermaphrodite, that is, both Male and Female. And an Hermaphrodite, which is also called an Androgynus, shall be Heir, either as Male or Female, according to that Kind of the Sex which doth prevail, and accordingly ought to be baptized.'

Credulities of this Nature, though upon the most insignificant and ill-grounded Assertions, generally make great Progress in the Minds of Men and are sometimes so deeply rooted, that the Vicissitudes of many Ages have not been sufficient to open Mens Eyes, or make them sollicitous for the Truth. Of this Sort was the Notion of Witches in the World; for it is plain from Record, that many poor Women were condemned to the Flames or Gallows by the greatest Sages in the Law; and the Sentences against them were so arbitrary as never to be mitigated, but hurled them to Destruction without the least Regret or Pity from the Witnesses of such Barbarity; and yet how easy would it have been to discern that no Guilt, nor any such preternatural Knowledge as was said to center in them, could proceed from those ignorant simple People, that were always the Subjects of this Cruelty.

Thus it often fared with our reputed Hermaphrodites, who have been banished, tormented, abused, and employed in such Offices as were in themselves severe; cut off from the common Privileges and Freedoms enjoyed by the Publick wheresoever they have been; yea, and put to Death in an inhuman and pityless Manner. But the Disgrace which hangs over human Nature, from Mens harbouring such strange Notions of one another, is almost as bad; and more especially so, when several who are ranked among Men of Science shall espouse these Chimeras, or at least confess a Doubt concerning the Thing: So that it is not to be wondered at, if the weak-minded and injudicious should be impressed with a Belief of Reports of this Kind, and thereby lose all Humanity towards such Objects; and no wonder modest Ears should be grated with the Stories of such Creatures, since they are more frequently exposed to vast Numbers of the indiscreet Part of the World, than to Men of Knowledge and Decency.

Since this is the Case, and since Authors, of no little Account among the Learned, have taken great Pains to confirm the Certainty of the Existence of Hermaphrodites in human Nature, and, at the same Time, differ so much from each other concerning them; it could not but be very well worth while to attempt finding the Truth of what, I so much mistrusted, was asserted without any just Foundation, and what I could not but esteem a Scandal thrown upon the whole Race of Mankind; and therefore, upon seeing the Foetus whose Description, with an Observation upon all female Foetus's, concludes the following Pages, I was the more encouraged to read upon and consider the Subject; and finding myself unable to reconcile the Accounts of Authors to Truth, and the Nature of Hermaphroditism to the Physiology of human Bodies, I was still the more eager to endeavour at being satisfactory to others as well as myself, about what has been so long a Riddle.

A NEW METHOD OF IMPROVING Cold, Wet, and Barren LANDS, particularly Clayey Grounds.

MECHANICAL and CRITICAL

ENQUIRY

Into the NATURE

Hermaphrodites.

An Hermaphrodite is an Animal, in which the two Sexes, Male and Female, ought to appear to be each distinct and perfect, as well with regard to the Structure proper to either, as to the Power of exercising the necessary Offices and Functions of those Parts. This Definition naturally arises from the very Term, and therefore, whatsoever is so accounted, and fails of answering these Characters in the most minute Particular, should be consider'd in another light, and indeed call'd by some other Name.

It would be an Injury to Truth to deny the Existence of an Hermaphrodital Nature, to all the animal World in general; but however, I am inclin'd to believe it is only proper to some Reptiles, and but a few of these; for among the several Tribes of larger Animals, whether of the Air, Earth, or Waters, there seldom are any, of late Years, to whom this double Nature is ascribed, but those of the Human; with how little Truth or Reason, even to these, I hope to make appear hereafter.

The Notions that sprung up in the World concerning this Matter were first taken from Appearances that sometimes have happen'd of an extraordinary Elongation in the Clitorides of Females; the first Idea conceiv'd from thence must have been that of a Penis, and the Appearance of a Vulva join'd to it raised an Opinion of both Sexes in the same Body; hence proceeded the Invention of a proper Name for the surprising Unity of both Sexes; and hence, the Fictions of Poets, which the Learned are well acquainted with. It will not be very difficult to account in some Measure, for the rise of such erroneous Imaginations, if we only consider how ignorant the World was in former Ages of the animal Structure, and even of those that understood ought of it, how few there were, who knew that any such Part existed: It is therefore not much to be wonder'd at, that at the first Sight of a large Clitoris, divers odd Conjectures should arise, and supply the Fancy of those unskill'd in a due Knowledge of the Part, with Matter sufficient for the Erection of new Doctrine.

Our Author, after arming our Imaginations with an Expectation of something very extraordinary proceeds to describe a true Female Child, only he would allow her a Pair of Testes, but instantly owns the Scrota of these form'd the Labia. It would have been altogether as well to have said at once, the Labia were thicker than ordinary, for he could not positively say they were Testes without the Dissection of them, which was out of his Power, since we find him tracing her History to a more advanced Age. But further, he proceeds thus:

'In the Sinus, or Fissura Magna, the Nymphae and Carunculae myrtiformes appear'd entire, and half the Vulva was cover'd with a thin Membrane from the Perinaeum; and there was no Appearance of a Clitoris; the Uterus and its Neck were exactly like those of a Female.'

It has been often argued by Authors, that these Confricatrices are more inclined to desire the Access of Women than of Men, and being willing to favour the Opinion of both Sexes being found in one Person, draw from that Argument this Conclusion, that therefore there must be as much of a Masculine nature, as of a Female in them. To this it is answer'd: That they do not desire Women more than Men, from a mere natural Inclination, but because by a Gratification of this Nature there is not so much danger of being expos'd; therefore a Congress like this is the more eagerly sought after, and agreed on by two Females so inclin'd, since by an over long Clitoris in one, both find their accounts answer'd, without fear of that Accident, that is the necessary Consequence of dealing with Men; for that Part being, as all allow, the Seat of great Titulation, it is no wonder it should be stimulated by being embraced in the Vagina, nor that the Receiver should also be effected by such Frication, as well as by a Penis Virilis; thus I hope it appears plainly that this Conclusion is ill grounded.

There have been many Reports of Persons who, in a certain Process of Time, have been said to change their Sex; and many Authors have handed such Accounts with great Confidence to the rest of Mankind, which, like a Contagion, has infected them into a Belief of the Matter; a brief View of the Source of such Rumours may be of Use here, to shew how credulous some have been in receiving Stories of strange Things, and how indolent and supine in finding out the Truth of such.

Here was therefore a perfect Man, mistaken for a Female Child at the Birth, on account of the invisibility of the Testes, and the Appearance of that superficial Chink in the Perinaeum.

Here was a poor Girl whose Parents ignorantly believing she was a Boy from the Length of the Clitoris, dress'd her up, and employ'd her as such in the Business of Life; she no doubt believ'd herself so, until she was better instructed by her Fellow-Servant; and here is Matter and Foundation, altogether as probable and sufficient for Poets or Historians to build upon, as any heretofore taken notice of; and, in fine, hence it plainly appears, that it is with equal right, that human Nature may be said to be capable of admitting of two Natures Male and Female, in one Body, and of changing from one Sex to the other.

The Parents of these could have no other Motive for thinking these Creatures Boys, than the Length of the Clitoris; which is plain from their bearing Children when they came to Age; and if any thing of a Masculine Nature was in the Soldier, it could surely in seven Years Acquaintance have been exerted to the Gratification of a Wife, or would have produced some other Effects very different from that of being got with Child.

If Hermaphrodites actually existed, sure there might have been before now some probable Conjectures made to shew the Reasons, or Necessity of such Beings upon Earth, since so many Authors have been busy'd about them from the Beginning of the World. But there appears throughout their several Opinions, so general a Train of Absurdities, that I cannot but wonder, they were any more satisfactory to Mankind in their Days than they are to me at present. However, when the several Causes laid down by certain Authors from Time to Time, for the producing of those Creatures, are consider'd, it will not be difficult Matter to point out innumerable Errors amongst them, and deny that those Causes can produce any such Effect as a double Nature in human Bodies.

'It happens to some Men, in Generation, to have added to them those Female Parts, and to some Women those Masculine Parts that are luxuriant in them, when Nature is hinder'd, or grows forgetful; for when by any Accident it happens thus, that Superfluity of humid Matter that usually contributes to either the inordinate Size or Number of any Limb, goes to the Formation of a Member of any other Nature without Rule or Order.'

Now from this Manner of accounting for Masculinity and Femineity, or the Production of Males and Females, there arises a third Doctrine to which this Author seems to assent, and by which he accounts for the rise of Hermaphrodites; and tho' he confesses that some say so; which signifies he has it from others, yet he delivers it with an Air of Approbation, and consequently was not displeased with the Hypothesis.

'And some say, that if it runs from the Right-side of the Man to the same of the Woman, it produces a Male; and from their Left-sides a Female; and if from the Man's Left-side to the Right of the Woman, the Production will be a masculine Woman; but if from his Right, to her Left-side, it will be a feminine Male.'

If the old Doctrine of Males being proper to the Right-sides, and Females to the Left, of both Sexes, in the Act of Generation, were true, this crossing the Strain, in the Manner he relates, might hold, and would not be an unpleasant Method of explaining the Nature of the Growth of these Androgyni; but I believe, that Notion is so much exploded already, as not to need taking pains to Invalidate.

'When the Menses have come down, and the Uterus is cleansed, which happens about the fifth or seventh Day, if a Man cohabits with a Woman any time from the first to the fifth after they have ceased, a Male will be begotten; from thence to the eighth a Female; again from that to the twelfth a Male; but after that an Hermaphrodite.

'For at first, when the Uterus is cleansed by the Expurgation of the Humours, it acquires greater Heat, whereby the Semen Virile mixes the more powerfully with that of the Female, and is directed into the right Sinus of the Uterus, by the attractive Force of the Liver and right Kidney, from whence also, in these first Days, warm Blood is derived, to the Nutrition of the future Foetus: Nor can the Parts on the left Side, being then cold, and void of Blood, immediately after the menstrual Discharge, contribute any thing; but Blood is by degrees drawn from the emulgent Veins of the left Side, which go into the Spleen and Kidney, so that, from the fifth to the eighth Day, some Blood flows from them, whereby the Foetus is to be nourished; thus a Female is formed when these Parts compass their Strength, or are esteem'd as those of the Right out of their Situation, and also on Account of the Coldness of the Aliment. After the eighth Day, the Parts on the Right-side take the Office of preparing the Blood, which again begins to flow freely from them for the Growth of a Male.

'After a Woman has receiv'd the Semen Virile into the Uterus, care must be had of the Position of her Body; which ought not to be supine, because then the Semen, remaining in the middle of the Uterus, does not become either a Male or Female absolutely, but both together which is call'd an Hermaphrodite.'

Now, that the Semen should lodge in the Middle of the Uterus, and not in the rest of its Cavity, is very strange, since there is but one Cavity, and no manner of Partition to confine it in one part more than another; and as to the Capacity of the Cavity of the Uterus, it is known to be very small, insomuch that if we may suppose any of that Matter passes into it, it is impossible but the whole must be fill'd, considering the Quantity of that Fluid that is generally injected at such Times.

But how ridiculous a Notion must it be, that in so small a thing as the Uterus, when empty, a hot nutritious Juice should occupy one side, and a cold one the other; besides, if it were incumbent on Women, after Coition, to place themselves in a certain Position, for fear of having monstrous Children, there would certainly be great danger of the Produce of many; for we may be confident no such Care is taken at those times, by any Woman whatsoever.

But we are, according this Hypothesis, at a terrible Loss to know how a Female could be produced, tho' the latter were never so well stored with such female seminal Matter; because, the former being without it, there could be no consummate Coitus, and consequently no Female; so that, to sum up this Opinion, we must conclude, if both contribute, Hermaphrodites must ensue; if the Males only, Males must only be born; but if Males have nothing to emit, neither Male nor Female could be begotten, and Generation must drop by Degrees.

'When the Semina of a Man and Woman are mixed together, the forming Virtue, preserving a due Moderation and Temperature, will produce Bodies properly made; for if there be an Opposition of the said Virtue in the mingled Semen, she unhappily implants in the Foetus a double Sex.'

If this be thought a just Hypothesis, then we cannot but suppose, there is a great and most miserable Restraint upon the whole animal Part of the Creation; for if it be absolutely necessary that such a certain Quantity is to be expended on the compleating of a proportionable Foetus, I am of Opinion that not one third of the Animals of the World would escape being Monsters; and the Art and Business of Physicians would be more requisitely employed in ordering Regimens, and Calculations towards the fixing the Sustenance and other Non-naturals, in such Proportion to every Animal, as should produce in each an exact limited Quantity of seminal Matter, than in curing Diseases.

But besides adjusting the necessary Quantity of such seminal Matter, it would be no less difficult to calculate a Proportion of Particles for each Part, since our Author makes some Head-Particles, some for the Feet, and so of the rest; least, tho' the Quantity in the whole may be just enough, yet, the Head Particles, for example, might be too many, when there might at the same time be less of any other Part; so that according to this Notion, a Child might be begotten with a Head and half, and but half a Foot.

'If for making two Bodies the Matter is deficient, but is too much for one, the Vis Plastica forms more Limbs than are natural.' A little after he adds,

'In this Manner Hermaphrodites and Androgyni are begotten, who have the Parts of both Sexes; although one of them may be weaker and of less Efficacy than the other, and sometimes it happens that one may be changed or quite abolish'd.'

'When therefore this acting or procreating Virtue directly influences either Sex, so as to conquer or quite overcome, Women bring forth Children of either Sex; but where she partly conquers and partly is subdued, then the thing is otherwise conducted, and one both Male and Female is begotten.'

How inconsiderately does this Author give way to an erroneous Principle? For it is very plain to all Capacities, if it be necessary that such a Power as he calls his Vis Agens should accompany and direct the seminal Matter, in order to assist, and carry on, the Work of Generation, that whensoever she was so overcome, as not to have any concern in the Work, or act upon the seminal Matter, it ought to be deprived of any Manner, or Power, of growing into any Form whatsoever; whereas, by our Author's System, we find, that when this Vis Agens has any thing to do, it is only towards the Formation of a Male; because if she be, as he expresses it, overcome, the Matter will produce a Female of itself; so that, an Hermaphrodite cannot be formed, till the Matter and the Vis Agens quarrel, and strive for Mastership, when in the Scuffle, each contributes something towards its favourite Sex, and a foetus of both Sexes is made; yet he does not say both are perfect; for, as we observ'd before, he says one is obscure, so that in the Dispute they never come off equal; and this he proves in these Words; 'Nature in Mankind in general distinguishes the Male from the Female, so that both Sexes cannot exist in the same Body, in their proper degrees of Perfection.'

This last Opinion is not consistent with the rest, because, according to his first Principles, there should be an absolute Male or Female, just as either prevail'd over the other; and an Hermaphrodite, when each was so stubborn, as to force in upon the poor Foetus it's different Sex.

I should be glad to find out what these Qualities are, for as the Matter is stated it is hard to apply it; however therefore, if by the Contumacy of these Qualities, a Foetus may be impressed with two Sexes, we must conclude that human Nature is very unhappy under the Guidance of such capricious Directors; but he ought here more particularly to lay the blame to the Vis Formatrix; for tho' according to him either quality may be complexional of and terminating in its Sex; yet, these are but as Instruments made use of by the Vis Formatrix, to work upon the Matter withal; and therefore, the Tools used by a Workman may be as well blamed for making a bad Piece of Work, as these supposed Qualities; but as this Hypothesis in general, is as weak as any of the former, enough is said of it; let us therefore pass on to another, in which we shall find a great Variety.

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