§10## ΠΕΡΙ ΟΚΤΑΜΗΝΟΥ.
10.
ON THE EIGHT-MONTH FOETUS. 10.
Περὶ δὲ ὀκταμήνου γενέσιος φημὶ δισσὰς ἐφεξῆς κακοπαθείας γενομένας ἀδυνάτους εἶναι ποιέειν φέρειν τὰ παιδία, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο οὐ περιγίνεσθαι τὰ ὀκτάμηνα·
Concerning the birth of the eight-month foetus, I declare that two successive sufferings occurring in sequence make it impossible for the children to bear them, and for this reason eight-month infants do not survive.
συγκυρεῖ γὰρ αὐτέοις ἐφεξῆς κακοπαθεῖν τήν τε ἐν τῇ μήτρῃ γενομένην κακοπαθείην καὶ τὴν ὅταν ὁ τόκος γένηται, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τῶν ὀκταμήνων οὐδὲν περιγίνεται.
For it happens to them to suffer successively both the suffering that occurs in the womb and that when the birth takes place, and for this reason none of the eight-month infants survives.
Ἐπεὶ καὶ τὰ δεκάμηνα καλεόμενα λέγω ἐν ἑπτὰ τέσσαράκονθ’ ἡμέρῃσι μᾶλλον τίκτεσθαι· καὶ μάλιστα προσήκει ἐκτρέφεσθαι· καὶ τελεώτατόν ἐστιν ἐν τῇσι ταύτῃσι τεσσαράκοντα ἡμέρῃσι.
Indeed, I say that even those called ten-month infants are born rather in seven times forty days; and it is especially fitting for them to be reared; and they are most fully developed during these forty-day periods.
Ἐπήν δὲ γένηται, πλείω ἀπόλλυται· ἀναγκάζεται γὰρ πολλὰ μεταλαμβάνοντα ἐν ὀλίγῳ χρόνῳ πολλὰ νοσέειν, ἐξ ὧν οἱ θάνατοι γίνονται.
But once born, more of them perish; for they are forced, undergoing many changes in a short time, to suffer many illnesses, from which deaths occur.
Ἄρχεται δὲ πονέειν τὸ παιδίον πρὸς τοῦ τόκου γινόμενον καὶ κινδυνεύειν ἀπολέσθαι, ὅταν ἐν τῇ μήτρῃ στρέφηται· φύεται γὰρ πάντα ἄνω τὴν κεφαλὴν ἔχοντα· τίκτεται δὲ τὰ πολλὰ ἐπὶ κεφαλήν· καὶ ἀσφαλέστερον ἀπαλλάσσει τῶν ἐπὶ πόδας τικτομένων· τὰ γὰρ συγκαμπτόμενα τοῦ σώματος ἐπὶ κεφαλὴν οὔπω κωλύει ἰόντος τοῦ παιδίου· ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον, ὅταν ἐπὶ πόδας ὁρμήσῃ, τὰ ἐμφράγματα γίνεται.
The child begins to suffer at the approach of birth and to risk perishing when it turns in the womb; for all grow having their head upwards, but most are born head-first; and this is a safer release than for those born feet-first; for the parts of the body that fold together do not yet block the child as it goes head-first; but rather, when it rushes feet-first, obstructions occur.
Αἱ γὰρ στροφαὶ ἐν τῇ γαστρὶ καὶ ἄλλος κίνδυνος· καὶ οἱ ὀμφαλοὶ πολλάκις ἤδη τῶν παιδίων ἐφάνησαν περὶ τοὺς τραχήλους·
For the turnings in the belly are also another danger; and the umbilical cords of the children have already often been seen around their necks.
ἢν γὰρ κατὰ τὸ μόριον, ὁποτέρωθεν ἂν τύχῃ ὁ ὀμφαλὸς τῇ μήτρῃ μᾶλλον παρατεταμένος, ταύτῃ τὸ παιδίον τῆς κεφαλῆς τὴν περιαγωγὴν ποιήσηται, τοῦ ὀμφαλοῦ στρεφομένου ἢ περὶ τὸν αὐχένα ἢ καὶ κατὰ τὸν ὦμον, τὴν περιβολὴν τοῦ ὀμφαλοῦ ἀντιτείνειν, τουτέου δὲ γενομένου καὶ τὴν μητέρα ἀνάγκη πονῆσαι μᾶλλον καὶ τὸ παιδίον ἢ ἀπολέσθαι ἢ χαλεπώτερον ἐξελθεῖν.
For if, according to the part where the umbilical cord happens to be more stretched from the womb, the child makes the turning of its head on that side, as the umbilical cord turns either around the neck or even about the shoulder, the wrap of the umbilical cord pulls tight, and when this happens, it is necessary for both the mother and the child to suffer more, and for the child either to perish or to come out with greater difficulty.
Ὥστε ἤδη καὶ πολλὰ ἔνδον τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς νούσου τῶν παιδίων ἦλθεν ἔχοντα, ἐξ ἧς τὰ μὲν ἀπώλετο, τὰ δὲ νοσήσαντα περιεγένετο.
Consequently, even inside the womb, many children have already come having the beginning of the disease, from which some perished, while others, having fallen ill, survived.
§1111.
11.
Ὁκόσα δ’ ἂν εὐπορήσῃ καὶ ἀσφαλέως ἐς τοὐμφανὲς ἐξίῃ, ἀνεθέντα ἐξαίφνης ἐκ τῆς ἀνάγκης τῆς ἐν τῇ γαστρὶ, παχύτερα καὶ μέζω παραυτίκα ἢ κατὰ λόγον ἐγένετο, οὐκ αὐξήματος, ἀλλ’ οἰδήματος γενομένου, ἐξ ὧν δὴ πολλὰ ἀπώλετο· ἢν γὰρ μὴ συνίζῃ τὸ οἴδημα θᾶσσον, ἢ τριταῖον ἢ ὀλίγῳ πολυχρονιώτερον, νοῦσοι γίνονται ἀπ’ αὐτέου.
But as many as succeed and safely go out into the light, being suddenly released from the constraint in the belly, become immediately thicker and larger than expected, not because of growth, but because swelling has occurred, from which indeed many perish; for if the swelling does not subside quickly, either on the third day or a little later, illnesses arise from it.