{"product_id":"2940012335838","title":"THE WORKS OF ARISTOTLE THE FAMOUS PHILOSOPHER","description":"PART I.--BOOK I\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHE MASTERPIECE\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e     _On marriage and at what age young men and virgins are capable of\u003cbr\u003e     it: and why so much desire it. Also, how long men and women are\u003cbr\u003e     capable of it._\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThere are very few, except some professional debauchees, who will not\u003cbr\u003ereadily agree that \"Marriage is honourable to all,\" being ordained by\u003cbr\u003eHeaven in Paradise; and without which no man or woman can be in a\u003cbr\u003ecapacity, honestly, to yield obedience to the first law of the creation,\u003cbr\u003e\"Increase and Multiply.\" And since it is natural in young people to\u003cbr\u003edesire the embraces, proper to the marriage bed, it behoves parents to\u003cbr\u003elook after their children, and when they find them inclinable to\u003cbr\u003emarriage, not violently to restrain their inclinations (which, instead\u003cbr\u003eof allaying them, makes them but the more impetuous) but rather provide\u003cbr\u003esuch suitable matches for them, as may make their lives comfortable;\u003cbr\u003elest the crossing of those inclinations should precipitate them to\u003cbr\u003ecommit those follies that may bring an indelible stain upon their\u003cbr\u003efamilies. The inclination of maids to marriage may be known by many\u003cbr\u003esymptoms; for when they arrive at puberty, which is about the fourteenth\u003cbr\u003eor fifteenth year of their age, then their natural purgations begin to\u003cbr\u003eflow; and the blood, which is no longer to augment their bodies,\u003cbr\u003eabounding, stirs up their minds to venery. External causes may also\u003cbr\u003eincline them to it; for their spirits being brisk and inflamed, when\u003cbr\u003ethey arrive at that age, if they eat hard salt things and spices, the\u003cbr\u003ebody becomes more and more heated, whereby the desire to veneral\u003cbr\u003eembraces is very great, and sometimes almost insuperable. And the use of\u003cbr\u003ethis so much desired enjoyment being denied to virgins, many times is\u003cbr\u003efollowed by dismal consequences; such as the green weesel colonet,\u003cbr\u003eshort-breathing, trembling of the heart, etc. But when they are married\u003cbr\u003eand their veneral desires satisfied by the enjoyment of their husbands,\u003cbr\u003ethese distempers vanish, and they become more gay and lively than\u003cbr\u003ebefore. Also, their eager staring at men, and affecting their company,\u003cbr\u003eshows that nature pushes them upon coition; and their parents\u003cbr\u003eneglecting to provide them with husbands, they break through modesty and\u003cbr\u003esatisfy themselves in unlawful embraces. It is the same with brisk\u003cbr\u003ewidows, who cannot be satisfied without that benevolence to which they\u003cbr\u003ewere accustomed when they had their husbands.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt the age of 14, the menses, in virgins, begin to flow; then they are\u003cbr\u003ecapable of conceiving, and continue generally until 44, when they cease\u003cbr\u003ebearing, unless their bodies are strong and healthful, which sometimes\u003cbr\u003eenables them to bear at 65. But many times the menses proceed from some\u003cbr\u003eviolence done to nature, or some morbific matter, which often proves\u003cbr\u003efatal. And, hence, men who are desirous of issue ought to marry a woman\u003cbr\u003ewithin the age aforesaid, or blame themselves if they meet with\u003cbr\u003edisappointment; though, if an old man, if not worn out with diseases and\u003cbr\u003eincontinency, marry a brisk, lively maiden, there is hope of him having\u003cbr\u003echildren to 70 or 80 years.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHippocrates says, that a youth of 15, or between that and 17, having\u003cbr\u003emuch vital strength, is capable of begetting children; and also that the\u003cbr\u003eforce of the procreating matter increases till 45, 50, and 55, and then\u003cbr\u003ebegins to flag; the seed, by degrees, becoming unfruitful, the natural\u003cbr\u003espirits being extinguished, and the humours dried up. Thus, in general,\u003cbr\u003ebut as to individuals, it often falls out otherwise. Nay, it is\u003cbr\u003ereported by a credible author, that in Swedland, a man was married at\u003cbr\u003e100 years of age to a girl of 30 years, and had many children by her;\u003cbr\u003ebut his countenance was so fresh, that those who knew him not, imagined\u003cbr\u003ehim not to exceed 50. And in Campania, where the air is clear and\u003cbr\u003etemperate, men of 80 marry young virgins, and have children by them;\u003cbr\u003ewhich shows that age in them does not hinder procreation, unless they be\u003cbr\u003eexhausted in their youths and their yards be shrivelled up.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIf any would know why a woman is sooner barren than a man, they may be\u003cbr\u003eassured that the natural heat, which is the cause of generation, is more\u003cbr\u003epredominant in the man than in the woman; for since a woman is more\u003cbr\u003emoist than a man, as her monthly purgations demonstrate, as also the\u003cbr\u003esoftness of her body; it is also apparent that he does not much exceed\u003cbr\u003eher in natural heat, which is the chief thing that concocts the humours\u003cbr\u003ein proper aliment, which the woman wanting grows fat; whereas a man,\u003cbr\u003ethrough his native heat, melts his fat by degrees and his humours are\u003cbr\u003edissolved; and by the benefit thereof are converted into seed.","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47121117184240,"sku":"2940012335838","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940012335838_p0.jpg?v=1763567625","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940012335838","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}