The Works of Aristotle the Famous Philosopher: Containing his Complete Masterpiece and Family Physician

In Short

This volume is a pseudo-Aristotelian compendium of early modern folk medicine, reproductive theory, and natural philosophy. It gathers together advice on matrimony, detailed instructions for midwives handling difficult births, recipes for herbal remedies, and lists of physical anomalies. Alongside these practical directives, it incorporates dynamic question-and-answer dialogues regarding body functions, guideposts for reading human character through facial features, and basic astrological charts mapping the heavens to human limbs. It has endured for centuries as an accessible snapshot of historical beliefs surrounding human biology and the mystery of generation.

The Story

The text unfolds not as a fictional narrative, but as an expansive intellectual journey through the lifecycle, beginning with the foundational institution of marriage. It argues that matrimony is ordained by Heaven to fulfill the command to multiply, warning parents that thwarting young people’s desires leads to severe physical ailments like green sickness or improper conduct. From this social framing, the focus shifts to the biology of conception, detailing how blood and seed interact to form the fetus. The narrative explores the darker mysteries of reproduction by examining monstrous births—such as children born covered in hair or with multiple limbs—attribute-driven outcomes often blamed on improper timing, maternal imagination, or divine retribution.

The arc then turns strictly practical, introducing the ideal midwife. She must possess specific physical and moral qualities: small, smooth hands, neat attire, emotional stability, and genuine piety. Detailed instructions guide her through natural deliveries as well as life-threatening emergencies. When labor turns difficult, the text outlines physical interventions, such as adjusting the mother's position across the bed, manual turning of the child, and removing the placenta. If medicine fails, unusual traditional expedients are offered, ranging from sneezing powders to marigold smoke.

Following birth, the focus shifts to pediatric care and female health. Remedies are provided for infant vomiting and painful teething, alongside treatments for internal uterine conditions caused by excess heat or cold. These conditions are addressed through specific purges, bleedings, and herbal decoctions.

The final phase of the book broadens into general natural philosophy and divination. A long series of catechism-style questions explores everyday physiological mysteries: why tears taste salty, why studying after dinner harms digestion, and why some animals are born blind. The perspective expands further to physiognomy, analyzing how eyebrow shape and spacing reveal secret vices or virtues. Finally, the text reaches outward to the cosmos, mapping the twelve signs of the zodiac to specific human body parts and outlining the twelve astrological houses that govern life, marriage, and death.

How It Unfolds

The purpose of matrimony The book opens by asserting that marriage is an honorable institution meant to direct natural human desires toward procreation. It cautions parents against delaying match-making, warning that unsatisfied physical longings cause genuine bodily illness in maidens and widows alike.

Mysteries of conception and monstrous births The text explores embryology alongside extraordinary anomalies, detailing case studies of deformed infants born across Europe. It attributes these outcomes to the power of maternal imagination during pregnancy or to unions occurring at forbidden times.

Qualifications and duties of the midwife A dedicated section outlines the required traits of a midwife, emphasizing physical attributes like small hands and moral qualities such as patience and piety. It establishes strict rules of conduct to ensure the safety of both mother and child during labor.

Managing extreme and unnatural labors Detailed procedures guide the reader through obstructed deliveries, manual extraction, and the handling of retained placentas. When mechanical remedies fail, the text suggests various herbal poultices, decoctions, and aromatic smokes to assist delivery.

Treating uterine distempers and infant ailments The narrative transitions to general healthcare, prescribing bleeding, cupping, and complex herbal purges for uterine imbalances. It also offers practical advice for nursing mothers dealing with infant vomiting and teething pain.

Enquiries into natural problems A series of rapid questions and answers addresses general human physiology and bodily functions. The text explains the mechanics of digestion, the causes of tears, and why physical health impacts mental clarity.

Physiognomy and celestial governance The volume concludes by analyzing human character through physical traits like eyebrows, then maps the human body to the zodiac. It details the twelve astrological houses that influence human destiny from birth to death.

The People

The Midwife She is the central agent of action within the text, tasked with safely navigating the dangers of childbirth. She seeks to preserve life through skill, neatness, and divine guidance, standing between the laboring mother and potential tragedy. Her effectiveness depends on mastering both physical techniques and herbal remedies.

The Laboring Mother She represents the focal point of the book's medical concern, enduring the physical hazards of reproduction. Subject to various internal distempers of heat, cold, or inflammation, her survival depends on proper care, correct positioning, and timely medical intervention during delivery.

The Developing Infant Positioned in the winding chambers of the womb, the infant is vulnerable to the mother's imagination, cosmic influences, and the physical constraints of delivery. Its positioning determines whether labor will be straightforward or life-threatening.

The Inquiring Philosopher The underlying voice of the text acts as an observer seeking to explain the natural world. This persona connects human anatomy to moral character and cosmic order, attempting to make sense of everything from bodily humors to planetary influences.

In Its Own Voice

"She ought to be neither too old nor too young, neither very fat, nor so thin, as to be weak, but in a good habit of body; not subject to illness, fears, nor sudden frights..."

This directive outlines the physical standards required of a midwife before she attends a delivery.

"A worthy gentlewoman in Suffolk, who being with child and passing by a butcher who was killing his meat, a drop of blood sprung on her face, whereupon she said her child would have a blemish on its face, and at the birth it was found marked with a red spot."

This anecdote illustrates the widespread belief in the power of a mother's imagination to physically shape her unborn child.

"To know the form and perfection of man's self, according to the philosophers, is a task too hard; and a man, says Plato, is nothing, or if he be anything, he is nothing, but his soul."

This passage frames the physical investigations of the body within a broader philosophical quest for self-knowledge.

What It's Really About

Beneath its collection of recipes and anatomical descriptions, the book is an attempt to map the unseen mechanisms of human life. It seeks to bring order to the unpredictable processes of sex, pregnancy, and disease by combining Aristotelian natural philosophy with practical folk wisdom. The text operates on the assumption that the human body is a microcosm mirroring the macrocosm of nature and the heavens. Physical health, bodily anomalies, and personal character are all treated as interconnected phenomena governed by humors, planetary alignments, and divine laws. Ultimately, the work tries to provide everyday readers with actionable knowledge to manage reproduction, preserve health, and decode the hidden signs written upon the human frame.

Why Read It Today

Modern readers will find this volume a fascinating artifact of historical medicine and popular culture. It offers an unvarnished look at how early modern society understood reproductive health, maternal care, and natural science before the advent of modern clinical medicine. Reading it feels like browsing a long-lost domestic manual, balancing surprisingly practical advice on hygiene and bedside manner with bizarre remedies involving marigold smoke and stone amulets.

The primary difficulty for contemporary readers lies in its obsolete medical framework. The text relies heavily on Galenic humorism, outdated embryological theories, and astrological assumptions that require some patience to navigate. The prose is straightforward yet filled with archaic terminology for plants, diseases, and chemical preparations. Despite these hurdles, the book remains compelling for anyone interested in the history of childbirth, pseudo-scientific lore, or the ways past generations attempted to make sense of the human body. It stays with you as a vivid reminder of how far medical science has traveled, and how deeply rooted our desire to understand human life has always been.