162 Ulisse Aldrovandi

modum—day by day, we observe men becoming smaller, and rarely taller than their parents, as a certain parching heat consumes the fertility of the seed. Following Pliny, many authors attribute this entirely to the aging of the world. From this aging arises a scorching heat, and subsequently a dryness, which exhausts both the abundance of the seed and the power of innate heat, which is why [dwarfs] have a larger penis. Or perhaps, as Aristotle wrote, just as in a man who lacks a tail that matter is redirected into the buttocks, so too the material that did not serve to increase the dwarf's stature is transformed into the penis. From this, we can also gather the answer to another problem: namely, why men who have been mutilated in some part of their body are more lustful. Since the nourishment that should have fed the missing limb remains in the veins, it increases the amount of seed, and from this abundance, lecherousness is generated.

Researchers also investigate why a person approaching a hearth to get warm first holds the palms of their hands to the fire. The answer is that for the internal parts to receive heat more easily and quickly, one must expose those areas through which heat can readily penetrate. The palms of the hands abound with many arteries and are highly sensitive parts through which heat immediately reaches the interior; therefore, these parts are moved toward the fire first.

A problem of a different kind follows: namely, why a hanged man's face turns toward the sun. Many assert that this happens because the face, due to its slanted position, seems to look wherever it can; however, the common opinion is that it results from the sun's heat, which, in drawing moisture to itself, does so more effectively through the face than any other part. Likewise, regarding a murdered man, it is asked why the blood flows anew from the wounds when the killer approaches—a phenomenon many record having observed in several corpses. Some authors write that this arises from the spirits of the striker and the stricken, but we consider this absurd, as no spirits can exit from cooled blood.

Pomponazzi is of the opinion that this flow of blood occurs because the soul of the slain man is indignant toward the killer. Yet a soul separated from the body cannot conceive anger, since it lacks the body, which is the workshop of wrath. Therefore, Maggi in his *Miscellanea*, finding no cause for this effect, believes one must resort to miracles. For our part, we believe it must be said that this does not happen to everyone, as blood does not always flow from the wound even when the killer is present; and if it does happen occasionally, we consider it to have occurred by chance, to the extent that the victim's veins were overflowing with ichor and watery blood.

Finally, many questions are proposed regarding women. First, why does a woman's corpse float face down in the water, while a man's corpse floats face up? The answer given is that the breasts and the womb in a woman are open parts that easily fill with water, and consequently the front part becomes heavier than the back. Conversely, in a man, the frontal parts are closed, and thus, swollen with internal air, they are rendered lighter. It is also investigated why women carry a weight better and more easily on the crown of their head, while men carry it on their shoulders. To the first point, it is replied that this is not true for everyone: indeed, we know many men who carry bundles on their heads just as well as women. Nevertheless, some reckon the reason to be that a man's skull, being joined by many sutures, easily loosens under placed weights, leading to pain; they assert the opposite for women, who have a more solid skull.

They further inquire why women, in comparison to men, conceive such massive fits of rage. The reason is that women, and especially younger ones, abound with a surplus of humors tainted by waste. Thus, when they boil over with anger, a vapor spreads throughout the entire body, which then feeds a more severe wrath. Finally, they ask why women are more talkative than men. They attribute the cause of this to the excessive moisture of the female brain, in which various images of things are easily impressed and just as easily slip from memory. For this reason, as soon as something is grasped in such a brain, it is sent to the imagination and then to the tongue to prevent it from being removed by forgetfulness. Therefore, secrets should by no means be entrusted to women.