Chap. 13.] 
THE MEKSTEUAL DISCHAEGE. 
151 
male is the only one that has the monthly discharge,^ and in 
whose womb are found what we term moles/' These moles 
consist of a shapeless mass of flesh, devoid of all life, and ca- 
pable of resisting either the edge or the point of the knife ; 
they are movable in the body, and obstruct the menstrual 
discharge ; sometimes, too, they are productive of fatal conse- 
quences to the woman, in the same manner as a real foetus ; 
while, at other times, they remain in the body until old age ; 
in some cases, again, they are discharged, in consequence of an 
increased action of the bowels. Something of a very similar 
nature is produced in the body of the male, which is called a 
schirrus;"^^ this was the case with Oppius Capito, a man of 
praetorian rank. 
It would indeed be a difficult matter to find anything which 
is productive of more marvellous effects than the menstrual 
discharge.^^ On the approach of a woman in this state, 
must will become sour, seeds which are touched by her 
become sterile, grafts wither away, garden plants are parched 
up, and the fruit will fall from the tree beneath which she 
sits. Her very look, even, will dim the brightness of mirrors, 
blunt the edge of steel, and take away the polish from ivory. 
A swarm of bees, if looked upon by her, will die immediately ; 
^5 Some of the simiae " are subject to a periodical discharge, analogous 
to that of the human female ; but, according to Cuvier, it is in smaller 
quantity, and not at stated periods. The females of various other animals, 
when in a state to receive the male, have a discharge from the same parts, 
but totally different in its properties, and the mode in which it makes its 
appearance. Virgil, Geor. B. iii. 1, 280, etseq., refers to this subject. — B. 
Pliny makes some further remarks on these substances in a subsequent 
place, see B. x. c. 84 ; where he says they are produced without the inter- 
course of the male ; this point has been much discussed, and is perhaps 
scarcely yet decided. — B. 
There is no actual resemblance between moles and schirri ; they are 
produced by different causes, and exist in different parts of the body. Moles 
are always formed in the womb, and probably have some connection with 
the generative functions ; while schirri are morbid indurations, which make 
their appearance in various parts of the body. Hippocrates gives some 
account of moles, in his work on the Diseases of Women. They are also 
noticed by Aristotle. — B. 
All the poisonous and noxious effects which were attributed by the 
ancients to the menstrual discharge, are without the slightest foundation. 
The opinions entertained on this point by the J ews, may be collected from 
Leviticus, c. xv. ver. 19, et seq. Pliny enlarges upon, this subject in a sub- 
sequent place. See B. xxviii. c. 23. — B. 
