§1212.
12.
Αἵ τε τροφαὶ καὶ αἱ ἀναπνοαὶ σφαλεραὶ μεταλλασσόμεναι· ἤν τι γὰρ νοσηρὸν ἐσάγωνται, κατὰ τὸ στόμα καὶ κατὰ τὰς ῥῖνας ἐσάγονται· καὶ ἀντὶ τοῦ τοσαῦτα εἶναι τὰ ἐσιόντα ὅσα ἐξαρκέει καὶ μὴ περιγίνεσθαι, πολλῷ πλέω εἰσέρχεται, ὥστε ἀναγκάζεσθαι ὑπὸ τοῦ πλήθεος τῶν ἐσιόντων καὶ ὑπὸ τῆς διαθέσιος ἧς διάκειται τὸ σῶμα τοῦ παιδίου ἤδη τὰ μὲν κατὰ τὸ στόμα τε καὶ τὰς ῥῖνας πάλιν ἐξιέναι, τὰ δὲ κατὰ τὸ ἔντερον καὶ τὴν κύστιν κάτω περαιοῦσθαι, πρόσθεν οὐδενὸς τουτέων οὕτω γενομένου.
Both nourishment and breathing are hazardous when they are changed; for if they take in anything harmful, it is taken in through the mouth and through the nostrils; and instead of the things entering being just enough and not exceeding, far more enters, so that they are forced, by the multitude of the entering things and by the state in which the child’s body is disposed, some to exit again through both the mouth and the nostrils, and others to pass downwards through the intestine and the bladder, whereas previously none of these things happened in this way.
Καὶ ἀντὶ πνευμάτων τε καὶ χυμῶν οὕτω συγγενέων, ὅκως ἀεὶ ἀνάγκη ἐν τῇσι μήτρῃσι γίνεσθαι συνηθείην τε ἔχοντα καὶ εὐμενείην, πᾶσι ξένοισι χρῆται ὠμοτέροισι καὶ ξηροτέροισι καὶ ἧσσον ἐξηνθρωπισμένοισιν, ἐξ ὧν ἀνάγκη πόνους γίνεσθαι πολλοὺς, πολλοὺς δὲ καὶ θανάτους· ἐπεὶ καὶ τοῖσιν ἀνδράσι πολλάκις αἱ μεταλλαγαὶ τῶν χωρίων τε καὶ τῶν διαιτημάτων τὰς νούσους ποιέουσιν.
And instead of the breaths and humors so akin to them, as is always necessary in the womb, having familiarity and favor, the child uses everything strange, which is harsher, drier, and less humanized, from which many pains, and also many deaths, must arise; since even in men, changes of places and regimens often cause diseases.
Ὁ δ’ αὐτὸς λόγος ἐστὶ καὶ περὶ τῶν ἐσθημάτων· ἀντὶ γὰρ τοῦ σαρκὶ καὶ χυμοῖς ἠμφιέσθαι χλιεροῖς τε καὶ ὑγροῖς καὶ ξυγγενέσι, τοιαῦτα ἀμφιέννυται τὰ παιδία οἷά περ οἱ ἄνδρες.
And the same reasoning holds also concerning clothing; for instead of being wrapped in warm, moist, and akin flesh and humors, children are wrapped in such things as men are.
Οἱ δὲ ὀμφαλοὶ ἔσοδοί εἰσι τοῖσι παιδίοισι μοῦνον τοῦ σώματος· τῇ μήτρῃ προσέχεται διὰ τουτέων, καὶ κοινωνεῖ τῶν ἐσιόντων· τὰ δ’ ἄλλα ξυμμύει· καὶ οὐκ ἀνεστομωμένα ἐστὶ πρόσθεν ἢ ἐν ἐξόδῳ ᾖ τὸ παιδίον ἐκ τῆς γαστρός· ὁκόταν δὲ ἐν ἐξόδῳ ᾖ, τὰ μὲν ἄλλα ἀναστομοῦται, ὁ δὲ ὀμφαλὸς λεπτύνεταί τε καὶ ξυμμύει καὶ ἀποξηραίνεται.
But the umbilical cords are the only entrances for the bodies of children; they are attached to the womb through these, and share in what enters; but the other openings are closed; and they are not opened before the child is on the point of exit from the belly; but when it is on the point of exit, the other openings are opened, while the umbilical cord becomes thin, closes, and dries up.
Ὥσπερ δὲ τοῖσιν ἐκ τῆς γῆς φυομένοισιν οἱ καρποὶ ἁδρυνόμενοι ἀποκρίνονται καὶ ἀποπίπτουσι κατὰ τὴν διάφυσιν, οὕτω καὶ τοῖσι παιδίοισιν ἁδρυνομένοισί τε καὶ τελείοισι γινομένοισιν ὁ μὲν ὀμφαλὸς ξυνέμυσε, τὰ δὲ ἄλλα ἀνεστομώθη, ὥστε εἰσδέχεσθαί τε τὰ ἐσιόντα καὶ ἐξόδους ἔχειν κατὰ φύσιν, ᾗσιν ἀνάγκη τοὺς ζῶντας χρέεσθαι· ἕκαστα γὰρ χωρίζεται ῥέποντα κατὰ τὰς συλλοχίας· κρατιστεύει δὲ τὰ τῷ ἡλίῳ ξυντροφώτατα.
And just as with things growing from the earth, the fruits, when they ripen, are separated and fall off at the point of division, so too in children, when they ripen and become complete, the umbilical cord closes, and the other openings are opened, so as to receive the things that enter and to have exits according to nature, which the living must use; for each thing is separated as it inclines according to its own natural groupings; and those that are most nurtured together with the sun prevail.
§1313.
13.
Οἱ δὲ δεκάμηνοι τῶν τόκων καὶ ἑνδεκάμηνοι ἐκ τῶν ἑπτά τεσσαρακοντάδων τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον γίνονται καὶ ἐκ τοῦ ἡμίσεος τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ οἱ ἑπτάμηνοι· τῇσι γὰρ πλείστῃσι τῶν γυναικῶν ἀναγκαῖόν ἐστιν ἐν γαστρὶ λαμβάνειν μετὰ τὰ καταμήνια, ἢν ἴῃ ἡ λύσις· δεῖ τοίνυν τῇ γυναικὶ χρόνον δοῦναι τοῦ μηνὸς, ἐν ᾧ αὐτῇ ἡ κάθαρσις ἔσται· καὶ ὁ χρόνος οὗτος ᾗσιν ἐλάχιστος γίνεται, τρεῖς ἡμέραι, τῇσι δὲ πλείστῃσι καὶ πολὺ πλείονες.
But the ten-month and eleven-month births occur in the same way from the seven forty-day periods, and from the half of the year the seven-month births occur; for it is necessary for most women to conceive after the menses, if the discharge occurs; it is necessary therefore to allow time of the month for the woman, in which her purification will be; and this time is for some the shortest, three days, but for most indeed much longer.
Ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἄλλα πολλὰ κωλύματα καὶ τῇσι γυναιξὶ καὶ τοῖσιν ἀνδράσιν ἐξ ὧν βραδύνεται ἡ ξύλληψις.
And there are also many other hindrances both for women and for men from which conception is delayed.
Χρὴ δὲ ἐν τοῖσι μάλιστα καὶ τόδε λογίζεσθαι, ὅτι ἡ νουμηνίη ἡμέρη μία ἐοῦσα ἐγγύτατα τριηκοστημόριόν ἐστι τοῦ μηνός· αἱ δὲ δύο ἡμέραι σχεδὸν πεντεκαιδεκατημόριον τοῦ μηνός· αἱ δὲ τρεῖς ἡμέραι δεκατημόριον τοῦ μηνὸς, καὶ τἄλλα κατὰ λόγον τουτέων· καὶ οὐχ οἷόν τε ἐν τοῖσιν ἐλάσσοσί γε μορίοις γίνεσθαι οὔτε τὴν λύσιν τῶν καταμηνίων οὔτε τὴν ξύλληψιν τῶν ἐμβρύων.
But one must calculate this especially among the most important things, that the new moon, being one day, is very nearly a thirtieth part of the month; and the two days are almost a fifteenth part of the month; and the three days are a tenth part of the month, and the other days in proportion to these; and it is not possible in these smaller parts for either the discharge of the menses or the conception of the embryos to take place.
Ἐκ τουτέων οὖν ἁπάντων ἀναγκαῖόν ἐστι τῇσι πλείστῃσι τῶν γυναικῶν περὶ διχομηνίην ἐν γαστρὶ λαβεῖν καὶ ποῤῥωτέρω, ὥστε πολλάκις δοκεῖν ἐπιλαμβάνειν τοῦ ἑνδεκάτου μηνὸς τὰς ὀγδοήκοντα καὶ διακοσίας· τοῦτο γάρ ἐστιν ἑπτὰ τεσσαρακοντάδες.
From all these things, then, it is necessary for most women to conceive around the full moon and later, so that the two hundred and eighty days—for this is seven forty-day periods—often seem to encroach upon the eleventh month.
Ὅ τι γὰρ ἂν ἔξω τῆς διχομηνίης ξυλλαμβάνῃ ἡ γυνὴ, τοῦτο πᾶν ἀναγκαῖόν ἐστι τοῦ ἑνδεκάτου μηνὸς ἐπιλαβεῖν, ἤν περ ἐς τελευταίην περίοδον καταστῇ.
For whatever a woman conceives outside the full moon, all this must encroach upon the eleventh month, if indeed it reaches the final period.