being to the world, viz., the menstruous blood. The blood may likewise
be lost, and the courses checked by nosebleeding, by bleeding piles, by
dysentery, commonly called the bloody flux, by many other discharges,
and by chronic diseases. Secondly, the matter may be vitiated in
quality, and if it be sanguineous, sluggish, bilious or melancholy, and
any of these will cause an obstruction in the veins.



SIGNS.

Signs which manifest the disease are pains in the head, neck, back and
loins; weariness of the whole body (but especially of the hips and legs,
because the womb is near those parts); palpitation of the heart. The
following are particular signs:--If the suppression arises from a cold,
the woman becomes heavy, sluggish, pale and has a slow pulse; Venus'
combats are neglected, the urine is thick, the blood becomes watery and
great in quantity, and the bowels become constipated. If it arises from
heat, the signs are just the opposite. If the retention be natural and
arises from conception, this may be known by drinking hydromel, i.e.,
water and honey, after supper, before going to bed, by the effect which
it has; for if after taking it, she feels a heating pain about the navel
and the lower parts of the abdomen, it is a sign that she has conceived,
and that the suppression is natural.



PROGNOSTICS.

The whole body is affected by any disorder of the womb, and especially