On the care of infants and young children, according to the Bible and Talmud / by James Finlayson.

Date:
1893
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the care of infants and young children, according to the Bible and Talmud / by James Finlayson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    referring both to pregnant women and to those who are nursing, says :— Does such a one eat Mustard ? then her child will be a glutton. Does she eat Cress ? then the children will become blear-eyed. Does she eat often of Ill-formed fish ? then their eyes will also be diseased. Does she eat Clay or potter's-earth ? then will the children be ill-formed. If, on the other hand, she makes use of Meat, Wine, Eggs, good Fish, Parsley, Coriander and Paradise Apples, then will the children be healthy, strong and comely, and will have clear eyes. Amulets, formed of meteoric stone, were worn by pregnant women suspended from their necks so as to ward off the danger of abortion : other women, however, who were not pregnant, seem also to have worn these articles. The foetus in utero was regarded as deriving its life from three sources : from its father, from its mother, and from the Lord. The father gives the white portions, whence come the bones, the nerves and tendons,, the nails, the brain, and the white of the eyes. The mother supplies that which is red, whence come the skin, the-flesh, the hair, and the black part of the eyes. The Lord gives the spirit, the expression and form ; the vision, hearing and speech; the power of walking and other movements; understanding and intellectual aptitude. When death comes, the Lord takes his part and leaves theirs to the parents. Rav Pappa says :—This is the meaning of the proverb, ' Shake off the salt and throw the flesh to the dogs: Rashi's explanatory note is :—Shake off the salt from the flesh and it becomes fit only for dogs. The soul is the salt which preserves the body: when it departs, the body putrefies. (s) The life of the embryo is supposed, in the Talmud, to be guarded from its very beginning by an angel, to whose care such matters are assigned. During its long residence in utero, the education of the foetus is likewise supervised by this (2) Wunderbar : Bibl.-tal. Med. ; 2. Abth. ; Riga, 1851, S. 63. His reference is to TV. Keluboth, 60. Compare quotation subsequently given in this paper on the diet of nursing mothers. Also compare Judges xiii. 4, although this case was, so far, special and exceptional. (3) Bergel: Medizin der Talmudtsten ; Leipzig, 1885, S. 56. (4) Rabbinowicz : La MM. du riialmud, Paris, 1880, p. 85. Reference to Nidah, Fol. 31. The idea of the white and red parts, respectively, seems to be connected with the colour of the sperm and the blood. An almost identical passage is translated by M. Schwab : Le Talmud de ferusalem, Tome IL, p. 305. Compare Wisdom of Solomon, vii., 2 :— Compacted in blood, of the seed of man.' (5) Hershon : Talmudic Miscellany, London, 1880, p 67.
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