Conception and Pregnancy; The Seed and The Nature of the Child, Hippocrates

 Why you might read The Seed and The Nature of the Child?

The Seed and the Nature of the Child is an interesting dive into early embryology. It shows us the genesis of some other ideas we hold now. Although it posits some things we now know to be untrue. It is none the less an eye-opener into early greek medicine. That being said it covers more of what is happening and less actual treatment based medicine.

In my Self Education project, it stands as a genesis of embryology.

Content of The Seed and The Nature of the Child

Hippocrates starts with the male sperm. He follows this with the female sperm and conception. He states that conception is when the female body holds onto the male sperm. He also states that when the male sperm is greater you will get a male child. The same, he says is true, of it the female sperm is dominant you will get a female child. He also spends a bit of time discussing the moistening of the female womb.

After conception, he speaks of the warmth generated being taken in by the foetus. This is, he says, how the foetus first grows. He then goes on to explain how the breath starts in the foetus and how it breaths. this is both on its own in the warmth and from its mother the cool air of outside. He talks of the separating of the limbs. How long that takes depends on the sex of the child. He first spends a lot of time proving this but comparing it to how long the woman discharges after birth. Second, he gets sidetracked into the life cycle of trees. This is in order to make comparisons to the growing bones in the child. He finishes with another sidetrack. This takes the form of the temperature of surface water during the winter and summer.

Reflections on The Seed and The Nature of the Child

Hippocrates assertion that there is male and female sperm is one that has been since disproven. Instead, we talk about the male sperm and the female egg. But at least he is firmly of the opinion that the child comes from both parents genetically. In fact, he discusses how the child will be a mix of the parents and there is no way it will not look like either.

His explanation around the breath of the child is interesting. We now know that foetal breathing is essential to lung development. That being said it starts much later, at 10 weeks, than Hippocrates posits. Whether his thoughts are due to an overemphasis on the breath and life. Whether he has come to his conclusion by other means. Either way, it is interesting that he lines up with what is happening to some degree.  We will never know how he got to that conclusion.

His sidetracks while interesting are rather longer than necessary to make his point. His comparisons though show a lot about how he conceives of the development of the child. His comparison with developing chicken eggs is a great way to get some information on the animal kingdom. And you can see he used this to inform his ideas.

What others have to say about The Seed and The Nature of the Child

"it is of considerable interest for the historian of gender." from a paper by Jean-Baptiste Bonnard

Comparisons with other texts

In some ways, this text follows on from The Nature of Man. Instead of staying at a surface level though it delves into reproduction in humans. But like The Nature of Man, it seeks to cover a discrete amount of information.

Conclusion

The Seed and the Nature of the Child set out conception through to birth. It takes what could be known at the time and makes some good guesses at what is going on. Hippocrates takes some interesting sidetracks into the growth of trees and the temperature of springs. This being said he does eventually like them to the topic at hand. His work on the child is interesting in that it defiantly sees the foetus as a person.

Have you read The Seed and the Nature of the Child? If so what did you think of it? 

 
Want to read The Seed and the Nature of the Child but haven't? Please leave me a comment and let me know why you want to read it.

Hopefully, this post inspires you to take the time to look into it on your own journey of Self Education.

Get a copy of The Seed and the Nature of the Child.