h child it is
shortened, and its thickness diminished proportionably to its
distension; and therefore it is a mistake of anatomists who affirm, that
its substance waxeth thicker a little before a woman's labour; for any
one's reason will inform him, that the more distended it is, the thinner
it must be; and the nearer a woman is to the time of her delivery the
shorter her womb must be extended. As to the action by which this inward
orifice of the womb is opened and shut, it is purely natural; for were
it otherwise, there could not be so many bastards begotten as there are,
nor would any married women have so many children. Were it in their own
power they would hinder conception, though they would be willing enough
to use copulation; for nature has attended that action with so pleasing
and delightful sensations, that they are willing to indulge themselves
in the use thereof notwithstanding the pains they afterwards endure, and
the hazard of their lives that often follows it. And this comes to pass,
not so much from an inordinate lust in woman, as that the great Director
of Nature, for the increase and multiplication of mankind, and even all
other species in the elementary world, hath placed such a magnetic
virtue in the womb, that it draws the seed to it, as the loadstone draws
iron.

The Author of Nature has placed the womb in the belly, that the heat
might always be maintained by the warmth of the parts surrounding it; it
is, therefore, seated in the middle of the hypogastrium (or lower parts
of the belly between the bladder and the belly, or right gut) by which
also it is defended from any hurt through the hardness of the bones, and
it is placed in the lower part of the belly for the convenience of
copulation, and of a birth being thrust out at full time.

It is of a figure almost round, inclining somewhat to an oblong, in part
resembling a pear; for being broad at the bottom, it gradually
terminates in the point of the orifice which is narrow.

The length, breadth and thickness of the womb differ according to the
age and disposition of the body. For in virgins not ripe it is very
small in all its dimensions, but in women whose terms flow in great
quantities, and such as frequently use copulation, it is much larger,
and if they have had children, it is larger in them than in such as have
had none; but in women of a good stature and well shaped, it is (as I
have said before), from the entry of the privy parts to the