AristotleOn Sterility 271
why menstrual bloodismentioned in ‘Hist. an. 10 ’, but only in the context
of irregularities in menstruation, which are to be taken as signs pointing
to a certain cause of failure to conceive.^50 In fact, throughout ‘Hist. an.
10 ’ it remains unclear what exactly the female contribution consists of.
To be sure, there is frequent mention of an emission, by the female, of
fluid,^51 indeed of seedK L;^52 but on two occasions ( 636 b 15 – 16 and
637 b 19 ) the female is said to ‘contributetothe seed’K <
)
3 L.^53 And in the only apparently unambiguous statement to this
effect, in 637 b 30 – 1 K 3
’"
!
9
!
L, the text does not make clear what actually
happens at the moment of conception. Interpreters have usually assumed
that the author believes that both male and female seedmixin the mouth
of the uterus and that this mixture is subsequently drawn into the uterus
with the aid ofpneuma. Now, if this was his position, it would be tanta-
mount to the view which Aristotle vigorously combats inGen. an. 727 b 7
K(.
.) "
,?
L,^54 and we would
have a serious inconsistency. Yet on looking closer at the actual evidence for
this, it is by no means certain that this is what the author has in mind. The
statement in 637 b 30 – 1 quoted above can also be taken to mean that female
ejaculation brings about a favourable condition – but does not necessarily
constitute the material agent – for fertility, which would explain why it
is so often mentioned as an indicator:^55 the fact that she ejaculates (also
in sleep), indicates that she is ready to receive the male seed and draw it
into the uterus, because it shows that the uterus is positioned in the right
direction.^56 This does not contradict Aristotle’s statement inGen. an. 739 a
21 that the fluid women discharge during intercourse does not represent the
female material contribution to conception, nor his insistence that the fact
that women also discharge this fluid while having erotic dreams is no sign
of it actually contributing to conception. To be sure,Hist. an. 638 a 8 and a
20 ff. speak of a mixture (‘Why do not the females generate by themselves,
since it is granted that the uterus draws in the male emission too when it
(^50634) a 12 ff.
(^51634) b 29 , 37 ; 635 a 21 ; 635 b 37 ; 636 a 6 , 10 ff.; 636 b 4 – 5 , 37 ; 637 a 2 – 3 ; 637 a 15 ; 637 a 37 ; 637 b 12 ;
637 b 19 ; 637 b 31 ; 638 a 1.
(^52634) b 37 ; 635 b 37 ; 636 a 11 – 12 ; 637 b 31.
(^53) Cf. the use of <
3 -# inGen. an. 739 a 21 and <
%
inGen. an. 729 a 21 f.
(^54) See alsoGen. an. 739 b 16 ff. (^55634) b 30 ff.; 635 b 2 ; 635 b 22 ff.; 637 b 25 – 32.
(^56) See 635 b 2 : 1 $ #
% % H ,
$
0
1 1 #!
1 ; <
"- "
.Cf.
Gen. an. 739 a 35.