§1.19#1μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα διοριστέον περίττωμά τε ποίας τροφῆς, καὶ περὶ καταμηνίων· γίγνεται γάρ τισι καταμήνια τῶν ζῳοτόκων.
After these things we must define what kind of nourishment semen is a residue of, and also discuss the menstrual discharge; for the menstrual discharge occurs in some of the viviparous animals.
διὰ τούτων γὰρ φανερὸν ἔσται καὶ περὶ τοῦ θήλεος, πότερον προΐεται σπέρμα ὥσπερ τὸ ἄρρεν καὶ ἔστιν ἓν μῖγμα τὸ γινόμενον ἐκ δυοῖν σπερμάτοιν, ἢ οὐθὲν σπέρμα ἀποκρίνεται ἀπὸ τοῦ θήλεος· καὶ εἰ μηθέν, πότερον οὐδὲ ἄλλο οὐθὲν συμβάλλεται εἰς τὴν γένεσιν ἀλλὰ μόνον παρέχει τόπον, ἢ συμβάλλεταί τι, καὶ τοῦτο πῶς καὶ τίνα τρόπον.
For through these things it will also become clear concerning the female, whether she discharges semen like the male and the product is a single mixture from two semens, or whether no semen is secreted from the female; and if none, whether she contributes nothing else at all to generation but only provides a place, or whether she contributes something, and if so, how and in what manner.
ὅτι μὲν οὖν ἐστὶν ἐσχάτη τροφὴ τὸ αἷμα τοῖς ἐναίμοις, τοῖς δ᾽ ἀναίμοις τὸ ἀνάλογον, εἴρηται πρότερον· ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ ἡ γονὴ περίττωμά ἐστι τροφῆς καὶ τῆς ἐσχάτης, ἤτοι αἷμα ἂν εἴη ἢ τὸ ἀνάλογον ἢ ἐκ τούτων τι.
Now, that blood is the ultimate nourishment for blooded animals, and the analogous substance for bloodless ones, has been said before; and since semen also is a residue of nourishment, and indeed of the ultimate kind, it must be either blood or the analogous substance or something from these.
ἐπεὶ δ᾽ ἐκ τοῦ αἵματος πεττομένου καὶ μεριζομένου πως γίνεται τῶν μορίων ἕκαστον, τὸ δὲ σπέρμα πεφθὲν μὲν ἀλλοιότερον ἀποκρίνεται τοῦ αἵματος, ἄπεπτον δ᾽ ὄν, καὶ ὅταν τις προσβιάζηται πλεονάκις χρώμενος τῷ ἀφροδισιάζειν, ἐνίοις αἱματῶδες ἤδη προελήλυθεν, φανερὸν ὅτι τῆς αἱματικῆς ἂν εἴη περίττωμα τροφῆς τὸ σπέρμα, τῆς εἰς τὰ μέρη διαδιδομένης τελευταίας.
And since each of the parts comes to be from the blood being digested and somehow distributed, while semen, when digested, is secreted as something different from blood, but when undigested—and when one forces oneself by indulging too frequently in sexual intercourse, in some cases it has already come forth bloody—it is clear that semen must be a residue of the bloody nourishment, which is the last to be distributed to the parts.
καὶ διὰ τοῦτο μεγάλην ἔχει δύναμιν· καὶ γὰρ ἡ τοῦ καθαροῦ καὶ ὑγιεινοῦ αἵματος ἀποχώρηρησις ἐκλυτικόν· καὶ τὸ ὅμοια γίγνεσθαι τὰ ἔκγονα τοῖς γεννήσασιν εὔλογον·
And for this reason it has great power; for indeed the loss of pure and healthy blood is exhausting; and it is reasonable that offspring come to be like their parents; for that which has come to the parts is like that which has been left behind.
ὅμοιον γὰρ τὸ προσελθὸν πρὸς τὰ μέρη τῷ ὑπολειφθέντι. ὥστε τὸ σπέρμα ἐστὶ τὸ τῆς χειρὸς ἢ τὸ τοῦ προσώπου ἢ ὅλου τοῦ ζῴου ἀδιορίστως χεὶρ ἢ πρόσωπον ἢ ὅλον ζῷον· καὶ οἷον ἐκείνων ἕκαστον ἐνεργείᾳ, τοιοῦτον τὸ σπέρμα δυνάμει, ἢ κατὰ τὸν ὄγκον τὸν ἑαυτοῦ, ἢ ἔχει τινὰ δύναμιν ἐν ἑαυτῷ.
Consequently, semen is that of the hand, or of the face, or of the whole animal, which is indeterminately a hand, or a face, or a whole animal; and such as each of those is in actuality, of such a kind is the semen in potentiality, either in respect of its own mass, or because it has some power in itself.
τοῦτο γὰρ οὔπω δῆλον ἡμῖν ἐκ τῶν διωρισμένων, πότερον τὸ σῶμα τοῦ σπέρματός ἐστι τὸ αἴτιον τῆς γενέσεως, ἢ ἔχει τινὰ ἕξιν καὶ ἀρχὴν κινήσεως γεννητικήν· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἡ χεὶρ οὐδ᾽ ἄλλο τῶν μορίων οὐδὲν ἄνευ ψυχῆς ἢ ἄλλης τινὸς δυνάμεώς ἐστι χεὶρ οὐδὲ μόριον οὐθέν, ἀλλὰ μόνον ὁμώνυμον.
For this is not yet clear to us from what has been defined, whether the body of the semen is the cause of generation, or whether it has some state and principle of movement that is generative; for indeed neither the hand nor any other of the parts is a hand or any part at all without soul or some other power, but is so only homonymously.
φανερὸν δὲ καὶ ὅτι ὅσοις σύντηξις γίνετο σπερματική, καὶ τοῦτο περίττωμά ἐστιν.
And it is also clear that in those in whom a seminal colliquation occurs, this too is a residue.
συμβαίνει δὲ τοῦτο ὅταν ἀναλύηται εἰς τὸ προσελθόν, ὥσπερ ὅταν ἀποπέσῃ τὸ ἐναλειφθὲν τοῦ κονιάματος εὐθύς· ταὐτὸν γάρ ἐστι τὸ ἀπελθὸν τῷ πρώτῳ προστεθέντι.
And this happens when it is dissolved into what has been added, just as when the plaster that has been smeared on falls off immediately; for that which has gone away is the same as what was first added.
τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον καὶ τὸ τελευταῖον περίττωμα τῷ πρώτῳ συντήγματι ταὐτόν ἐστιν.
In the same way, the ultimate residue is the same as the first colliquation.
καὶ περὶ μὲν τούτων διωρίσθω τὸν τρόπον τοῦτον.
And concerning these matters let it be defined in this manner.
ἐπεὶ δ᾽ ἀναγκαῖον καὶ τῷ ἀσθενεστέρῳ γίγνεσθαι περίττωμα πλεῖον καὶ ἧττον πεπεμμένον, τοιοῦτον δ᾽ ὂν ἀναγκαῖον εἶναι αἱματώδους ὑγρότητος πλῆθος, ἀσθενέστερον δὲ τὸ ἐλάττονος θερμότητος κοινωνοῦν κατὰ φύσιν, τὸ δὲ θῆλυ ὅτι τοιοῦτον εἴρηται πρότερον, ἀναγκαῖον καὶ τὴν ἐν τῷ θήλει γινομένην αἱματώδη ἀπόκρισιν περίττωμα εἶναι.
Since, however, it is necessary that for the weaker also there comes to be more residue and less digested, and it being of such a kind must be a quantity of bloody fluid, and that which shares in less heat is by nature weaker, and that the female is of this kind has been said before, it is necessary that the bloody secretion which comes to be in the female is also a residue.
γίνεται δὲ τοιαύτη ἡ τῶν καλουμένων καταμηνίων ἔκκρισις.
And the discharge of the so-called menstrual fluid becomes of this kind.
ὅτι μὲν οὖν ἐστὶ τὰ καταμήνια περίττωμα, καὶ ὅτι ἀνάλογον ὡς τοῖς ἄρρεσιν ἡ γονὴ οὕτω τοῖς θήλεσι τὰ καταμήνια, φανερόν.
That the menstrual fluid, then, is a residue, and that the menstrual fluid in females is analogous to the semen in males, is clear.
ὅτι δ᾽ ὀρθῶς εἴρηται, σημεῖα τὰ συμβαίνοντα περὶ αὐτά.
And that this has been said correctly is shown by the occurrences concerning them.
κατὰ γὰρ τὴν αὐτὴν ἡλικίαν τοῖς μὲν ἄρρεσιν ἄρχεται ἐγγίνεσθαι γονὴ καὶ ἀποκρίνεται, τοῖς δὲ θήλεσι ῥήγνυται τὰ καταμήνια καὶ φωνήν τε μεταβάλλουσι καὶ ἐπισημαίνει τὰ περὶ τοὺς μαστούς.
For at the same age, semen begins to be present and is secreted in males, and in females the menstrual discharge breaks out, and they change their voice and the parts about the breasts show signs.
καὶ παύεται τῆς ἡλικίας ληγούσης τοῖς μὲν τὸ δύνασθαι γεννᾶν, ταῖς δὲ τὰ καταμήνια.
And it ceases when age declines, in males the power to generate, and in females the menstrual discharge.
ἔτι δὲ καὶ τὰ τοιάδε σημεῖα ὅτι περίττωμά ἐστιν αὕτη ἡ ἔκκρισις τοῖς θήλεσιν.
Furthermore, there are also signs of this kind that this discharge in females is a residue.
ὡς γὰρ ἐπὶ τὸ πολὺ οὔθ’ αἱμορροΐδες γίνονται ταῖς γυναιξὶν οὔτ᾽ ἐκ τῶν ῥινῶν ῥύσις αἵματος οὔτε τι ἄλλο μὴ τῶν καταμηνίων ἱσταμένων· ἐάν τε συμβῇ τι τούτων, χείρους γίγνονται αἱ καθάρσεὶς ὡς ἀναλισκομένης εἰς ταῦτα τῆς ἀποχρίσεως.
For as a rule, neither hemorrhoids occur in women, nor flow of blood from the nose, nor anything else, as long as the menstrual discharge is not stopped; and if any of these occurs, the purifications become worse, as the secretion is consumed on these things.