120 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2nds. N068., Feb. 7. '57. 



Midwives and Men-Midwives (2"'* S. iii. 66.) 

 — The remark of G. N. that, in Scotland, the 

 useful class of midwives is disappearing, induces 

 me to send you a Note on their orii^in. The first 

 female who practised was Agnodice, the Athenian 

 daughter of Hierophilus, the physician. Her 

 father taught her the art, or the science rather, 

 and Agnodice is said to have stood among her 

 father's male pupils at lectures, disguised as a 

 youth. This will remind the readers of " N. & Q." 

 of a female lecturer on law : 



" Novella, a young Bolognese, 



The daughter of a learned law-doctor 

 Who had with all the subtleties 



Of old and modern jurists stock 'd her, 

 Was so exceeding fair 'tis said, 



And over hearts held such dominion, 

 That when her father, sick in bed. 

 Or busy, sent her in his stead. 



To lecture on the Code Justinian, 

 She had a curtain drawn before her, 



Lest, if her charms were seen, the students 

 Should let their young eyes wander o'er her, 



And quite forget their jurisprudence." 



When Agnodice went into practice she retained 

 male attire, but made known her sex to her pa- 

 tients. Her engagements became so numerous 

 that the male practitioners became enraged, and 

 brought the young midwife before the Areopagus, 

 under a charge of corrupting the Athenian ladies. 

 The daughter of Hierophilus, however, declared 

 her sex to the judges ; and these not only ac- 

 quitted her, but issued a decree permitting all 

 free-born women to study midwifery. According 

 to this story, the man-midwife is older than the 

 midwife ; and yet Paulus of jEgina, who lived 

 about the seventh century, perhaps a little earlier, 

 is said to have "been the first male who practised, 

 or who merited to be called " man-midwife." He 

 was the author of a treatise, in seven books, on 

 the medical art, De Re Medica. Were the earlier 

 male practitioners mere bunglers ? Some of 

 your correspondents, whose reading is wider and 

 memory better than mine, may probably furnish 

 you with an interesting note on this subject. 

 When was the sage-femme first authorised to 

 practise in France ? Was Montaigne or Menage 

 the author of the prettily-balanced sentence which 

 says : 



" Nous avons besoin d'une sage-femme pour nous mettre 

 au monde ; nous avons encore bien plus besoin d'un 

 homme sage pour nous en sortir ? " 



J. DORAN. 



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