ABSTRACT
THE fact that semen bears a strong similarity to ointment, as I mentioned above, does not seem unusual, for Albertus in Bk XVI, Ch. 9, of his treatise On Animals says that, resembling an oil in many respects, it becomes thick when it occurs within the warm body of an animal, but thins out in a cold environment, as when it stands away from the animal’s body in the open air. He goes on to propose reasons why an animal’s semen emerges thick and white from the body of its producer. It springs from the interior heat, and a very warm spirit unites in this substance to make it thick and white. When it is emitted and exposed to a cold atmosphere, the inherent heat evaporates and the spirit is dissipated with that heat; this, then, is the condition of the semen after it has cooled and begun to dry up. Further more, some authorities say that an elephant’s semen is as black as coal 2 because it contains earth, and as a result the beast’s huge bones and the rest are formed. Albertus, however, in the same section, proves the absurdity of this, declaring that inevitably one creature’s semen is earthier than another’s because of the variation in different animals’ constitutions. But the semen of animals whose bodies remain on land is made earthy, white, and thick by the mixture of air, as occurs with other semens. Nor is the semen of Ethiopians black, since their teeth are found to be a brilliant white. 3
