ABSTRACT
According to humoral theory the chief difference between the sexes was in the degree of natural heat they possessed. Women had more blood in their bodies than men, but it was of a much inferior quality. It was therefore a scientific fact that 'a female is a thing more imperfect then a male'. Anatomically, however, the ancients held that there was virtually no difference between the sexes, the man's penis and testicles being exactly analogous to the uterus and ovaries, but situated outside the body because of men's greater heat. The anatomist Bartholin, whose anatomy was translated into English in 1668, expressly denied it. As late as 1755, Aristotle's experienced midwife restated the 'certain Truth, that the Womb flies from all stinking, and to all sweet things'. These notions were influential in diagnosis and therapy. Despite the ovum theory which had by then gained general acceptance, at the popular level Aristotle's masterpiece was repeating the same thing in 1755.
