thereof, and bloud by his vertue ſwageth ſmarting of eyen. And as Conſtantine ſaith, The bloud of Doue, or of a ſwallow drawen out of ye right wing, and dropped hot in the eyen, wipeth away the ſpots of the eyen: Such bloud is full firie and able to heate and to diſſolue, as the Commentator ſaith, In viatico, in tractatu de pannicul. & macul. oculorum in fine.
¶Of the euill propertie of bloud, Cap. 8.
Other properties there be of bloud, that be leſſe to praiſe then the foreſaid properties. For how much bloud being well diſpoſed, is more friendlye & profitable to nature: ſo much the more when it is corrupt, it is hurtfull thereto, and cauſeth grieous ſickneſſe in the body. For mallice of other humours, medled with bloud, is not ſodainly felt: for it is hid, becauſe of friendſhip that bloud hath to kinde: and therefore kinde is not ware of the mallice of other humors that be hid vnder ye friendſhip of bloud, and ſo the kinde dreadeth not the griefe of the humours that be ſo hid: as it fareth in feauers that are called Hemitritaeon,[1] & other that be medled. In which, red or burnt cholar medled with bloud, is not ſo ſoone knowen to kind nor phiſitions, as Galen ſaith ſuper Aphoriſ. Alſo if ther be ſuperfluous bloud in ye body, it breedeth wonderful euills in men, except it be ye ſooner voyded by kinde or by Phiſicke: as it fareth in that bloud, that is called, Sanguis menſtrualis, the which bloud in women through too great moyſture, and for default of heate, if it be holden beyond due time, is cauſe and occaſion of full great griefes and ſickeneſſe. For ſometime it ſtiffeleth ye principall members: ſometime it cauſeth dropſie. & ſometime the phrenſie, or other open diſeaſes, as that corrupt bloud too long held and ſhut in, is ſent forth ſo diuers places of the bodye, as it is more plavnly contayned in lib. Palſionarum Galen. And therfore againſt ſuch perils, the beſt remedy is to voyd ſuch corrupt bloud quickly.
And it is no meruayle, if bloud thus corrupted, grieue ſo the bodye that it is in, ſeeing alſo it chaungeth wonderfully and inſerteth other bodyes.[2] For lib. 10. cap. 12. Iſidore ſaith, by the touch of the bloud menſtruall, fruite groweth not, but dryeth and is burnt, hearbes dye, trees looſe their fruite, yron is fret with ruſt, braſſe and mettall wareth blacke: if hounds eate thereof they ware mad. And a thing that is called Glutinum aſpalti, is ſo hard yt it may not be delaide with water nor with fire. And if yt bloud, Menſtrualis touch that Glutinum aſpalti, it all to falleth, as Iſidore ſaith.
This bloud is bred in womens bodyes, of ſuperfluitie of moyſture, and féebleneſſe of heate. And therefore that it ſhuld not grieue kind, it is gendred in the Mother, as into a poumpe, from the which if it be expulſed & put out in due manner, it cleanſeth and caſeth all the body, and the Mother diſpoſeth and maketh able to conceiue. And therefore, Ariſtotle ſaith. lib. 9.
Menſtrum in fine menſis in mulieribus maxime viget: et ideo tune vtiliter expellitur ſanguis talis: quia ſicut dicit Iſid. lib. 16. ſanguis menſtrualis non habet certam temporis reuolutionem: ſed in maiore parte accedit in diminutione Lunae, & hoc eſt rectum: quia corpora animaliū ſunt tunc temporis frigidiora: & alteratur ſanguis, & efficitur ex eo ſuperfluitas menſtrualis: quae ſi tunc expellitur, talis euacuatio laudabilis eſt & naturalis: quia ſi vitra tempus, vel propter groſsiciem ſanguinis, vel propter altitudinem matricis, vel propter defectum expulſiue virtutis retineatur, multis moleſtijs periculoſis, corpus mulieris aggrauatur.
Quod quidem geueraliter eſt verum, a quarto decimo anno vsq ad quinquagenum: quia in iuuenculis meatus ſunt anguſti, & virtus debilis. A quinquageſimo vero anno in antea ſanguis, minoratur & frigeſcit, calor deſtiuit & tepeſcit: vnde iſtae duae aetates a tali immundicia ſunt immunes, ſcilicet ſenectus vetularis, & iuuentus puellaris, retmet tamen natura ſanguinem menſtrualem poſt mulierum impregnationem
