§1.19#2ἔτι δὲ οὔτε φλεβώδεις ὀμοίως γλαφυρώτερά τε καὶ λειότερα τὰ θήλεα τῶν ἀρρένων ἐστὶ διὰ τὸ συνεκκρίνεσθαι τὴν εἰς ταῦτα περίττωσιν ἐν τοῖς καταμηνίοις.
Moreover, females are not as vein-prominent, and are smoother and sleeker than males, because the residue that would go to these parts is secreted together with the menstrual fluid.
τὸ δ’ αὐτὸ τοῦτο δεῖ νομίζειν αἴτιον εἶναι καὶ τοῦ τοὺς ὄγκους ἐλάττους εἶναι τῶν σωμάτων τοῖς θήλεσιν ἢ τοῖς ἄρρεσιν ἐν τοῖς ζῳοτοκοῦσιν· ἐν τούτοις γὰρ ἡ τῶν καταμηνίων γίνεται ῥύσις θύραζε μόνοις, καὶ τούτων ἐπιδηλότατα ἐν ταῖς γυναιξίν· πλείστην γὰρ ἀφίησιν ἀπόκρισιν γυνὴ τῶν ζῴων.
And we must think that this same thing is also the cause of the bodily sizes of females being smaller than those of males among viviparous animals; for among these alone does the flow of the menstrual discharge occur externally, and most conspicuously of these among women; for woman discharges the greatest amount of secretion of all animals.
διόπερ ἐπιδηλοτάτως ἀεὶ ὠχρόν τέ ἐστι καὶ ἀδηλόφλεβον, καὶ τὴν ἔλλειψιν πρὸς τοὺς ἄρρενας ἔχει τοῦ σώματος φανεράν.
Therefore she is always very conspicuously pale and indistinctly-veined, and has a manifest deficiency of body in comparison with males.
ἐπεὶ δὲ τοῦτ’ ἐστὶν ὃ γίγεται τοῖς θήλεσιν ὡς ἡ γονὴ τοῖς ἄρρεσιν, δύο δ’ οὐκ ἐνδέχεται σπερματικὰς ἅμα γίνεσθαι ἀποκρίσεις, φανερὸν ὅτι τὸ θῆλυ οὐ συμβάλλεται σπέρμα εἰς τὴν γένεσιν· εἰ μὲν γὰρ σπέρμα ἦν, τὰ καταμήνια οὐκ ἂν ἦν· νῦν δὲ διὰ τὸ ταῦτα γίγνεσθαι ἐκεῖνο οὐκ ἔστιν.
Since, however, this is what comes to be in females as semen is in males, and it is not possible for two seminal secretions to be produced at the same time, it is clear that the female does not contribute semen to generation; for if she had semen, she would not have the menstrual discharge; but as it is, because the latter occurs, the former is not present.
διότι μὲν οὖν, ὥσπερ τὸ σπέρμα, καὶ τὰ καταμήνια περίττωμά ἐστιν, εἴρηται· λάβοι δ’ ἄν τις εἰς τοῦτο μαρτύρια ἔνια τῶν συμβαινόντων τοῖς ζῴοις.
Why, then, the menstrual discharge, like semen, is a residue, has been said; and one might grasp some signs of this from what happens to animals.
τά τε γὰρ πίονα ἧττόν ἐστι σπερματικὰ τῶν ἀπιμέλων, ὥσπερ εἴρηται πρότερον.
For fat individuals are less seminal than those without fat, as has been said before.
αἴτιον δ’ ὅτι καὶ ἡ πιμελὴ περίττωμά ἐστι καθάπερ τὸ σπέρμα, καὶ πεπεμμένον αἷμα, ἀλλ’ οὐ τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον τῷ σπέρματι.
The cause is that fat also is a residue like semen, and is digested blood, but not in the same manner as semen.
ὥστ’ εὐλόγως εἰς τὴν πιμελὴν ἀνηλωμένης τῆς περιττώσεως ἐλλείπει τὰ περὶ τὴν γονήν, οἷον τῶν τε ἀναίμων τὰ μαλάκια καὶ τὰ μαλακόστρακα περὶ τὴν κύησίν ἐστιν ἄριστα.
So that reasonably, when the residue is consumed on fat, that which concerns the semen is deficient; for example, among bloodless animals, the cephalopods and crustacea are best in regard to gestation.
διὰ τὸ ἄναιμα γὰρ εἶναι καὶ μὴ γίνεσθαι πιμελὴν ἐν αὐτοῖς, τὸ ἀνάλογον αὐτοῖς τῇ πιμελῇ ἀποκρίνεται εἰς τὸ περίττωμα τὸ σπερματικόν.
For because they are bloodless and no fat is produced in them, the analogue to fat is secreted in them into the seminal residue.
σημεῖον δ’ ὅτι οὐ τοιοῦτο σπέρμα προΐεται τὸ θῆλυ οἷον τὸ ἄρρεν. οὐδὲ μιγνυμένων ἀμφοῖν γίνεται, ὥσπερ τινές φασιν, ὅτι πολλάκις τὸ θῆλυ συλλαμβάνει οὐ γενομένης αὐτῇ τῆς ἐν τῇ ὁμιλίᾳ ἡδονῆς· καὶ γιγνομένης πάλιν οὐδὲν ἧττον, καὶ ἰσοδρομησάντων παρὰ τοῦ ἄρρενος καὶ τοῦ θήλεος, οὐ γίγνεται, ἐὰν μὴ ἡ τῶν καλουμένων καταμηνίων ἰκμὰς ὑπάρχῃ σύμμετρος.
And it is a sign that the female does not discharge such semen as the male, nor does generation occur from both being mixed, as some say, because often the female conceives without the pleasure of intercourse occurring for her; and again, even when it does occur, no less does she fail to conceive, and even when the male and female reach their climax together, it does not happen, unless the moisture of the so-called menstrual fluid is present in due proportion.
διὸ οὔτε ὅλως μὴ γιγνομένων αὐτῶν γεννᾷ τὸ θῆλυ, οὔτε γιγνομένων ὅταν ἐξικμάζῃ ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πολύ, ἀλλὰ μετὰ τὴν κάθαρσιν.
Therefore, the female does not generate either when they do not occur at all, or when they occur but are flowing away excessively, as a rule, but after the purification.
ὁτὲ μὲν γὰρ οὐκ ἔχει τροφὴν οὐδ’ ὕλην, ἐξ ἧς δυνήσεται συστῆσαι τὸ ζῷον ἡ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἄρρενος ἐνυπάρχουσα ἐν τῇ γονῇ δύναμις· ὁτὲ δὲ συνεκκλύζεται διὰ τὸ πλῆθος.
For at one time she has no nourishment or material from which the power present in the semen from the male will be able to construct the animal, and at another time it is washed away because of its abundance.
ὅταν δὲ γενομένων ἀπέλθῃ, τὸ ὑπολειφθὲν συνίσταται.
But when, having occurred, the excess has gone away, that which is left behind is constituted.
ὅσαι δὲ μὴ γιγνομένων τῶν καταμηνίων συλλαμβάνουσιν, ἢ μεταξὺ γιγνομένων ὕστερον δὲ μή, αἴτιον ὅτι ταῖς μὲν τοσαύτη γίνεται ἰκμὰς ὅση μετὰ τὴν κάθαρσιν ὑπολείπεται ταῖς γονίμοις, πλείων δ’ οὐ γίγνεται περίττωσις ὥστε καὶ θύραζε ἀπελθεῖν, ταῖς δὲ μετὰ τὴν κάθαρσιν συμμύει τὸ στόμα τῶν ὑστερῶν.
And as for those who conceive when the menstrual discharge does not occur, or who conceive between its occurrences and not afterwards, the cause is that for some, only as much moisture is produced as is left behind for fertile women after purification, and no larger residue comes to be so as to go outside, while for others, the mouth of the uterus closes after purification.
ὅταν οὖν πολὺ μὲν τὸ ἀπεληλυθὸς ᾖ, ἔτι δὲ γίγνηται μὲν κάθαρσις, μὴ τοσαύτη δὲ ὥστε ἐξικμάζειν τὸ σπέρμα, τότε πλησιάζουσαι συλλαμβάνουσι πάλιν.
When, therefore, that which has gone away is indeed much, and yet a purification still occurs but not so much as to wash out the semen, then by having intercourse they conceive again.
οὐδὲν δὲ ἄτοπον τὸ συνειληφυίαις ἔτι γίγνεσθαι· καὶ γὰρ ὕστερον μέχρι τινὸς φοιτᾷ τὰ καταμήνια, ὀλίγα δὲ καὶ οὐ διὰ παντός.
And there is nothing strange in it still occurring for those who have conceived; for indeed afterwards the menstrual fluid visits up to a certain point, though few and not throughout.
ἀλλὰ τοῦτο μὲν νοσηματῶδες, διόπερ ὀλίγαις καὶ ὀλιγάκις συμβαίνει· τὰ δ’ ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πολὺ γινόμενα μάλιστα κατὰ φύσιν ἐστίν.
But this is diseased, which is why it happens to few women and rarely; but those things that happen for the most part are most in accordance with nature.
Ὅτι μὲν οὖν συμβάλλεται τὸ θῆλυ εἰς τὴν γένεσιν τὴν ὕλην, τοῦτο δ’ ἐστὶν ἐν τῇ τῶν καταμηνίων συστάσει, τὰ δὲ καταμήνια περίττωμα, δῆλον.
That the female, then, contributes the material for generation, and that this is in the constitution of the menstrual discharge, and that the menstrual discharge is a residue, is clear.