The Jewish child : its history, folklore, biology, & sociology / by W.M. Feldman ; with an introduction by Sir James Crichton-Browne.

  • Feldman, W. M. (William Moses), 1879-1939.
Date:
1917
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: The Jewish child : its history, folklore, biology, & sociology / by W.M. Feldman ; with an introduction by Sir James Crichton-Browne. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    150/492 (page 116)
    116 The Jewish Child [chap. of Jason in full view of bis pregnant wife.^ Galen held a similar view/ but Pliny, like the Talmud, speaks only of the effect of impressions received at the moment of conception.^ The Midrash also tells a story about a woman who saw a young man that she liked, and afterwards gave birth to a child that resembled him. It also tells of a pregnant ass in whom a veterinary surgeon cauterized a wound, and she afterwards gave birth to a donkey with a mole.^ According to the same source, if a woman, who is pregnant by her husband, misconducts herself with another man, the foetus's appearance is changed to resemble that of the other man.^ R. Kohana narrates that, in order to breed the red heifer for ritual pur¬ poses, they used to pass a red cup in front of the cow at the moment of conception.® Rabbi Jehuda said that he who wishes to have clever children should at the time of begetting think of doing good deeds.^ A pregnant woman must not have a hot bath, for fear of bringing on a miscarriage.® Diet. Directions regarding the diet of an expectant mother are given both in the Bible and in the Talmud. Certain indigestible articles, and in special cases, such as when ^ T. Fienus, De viribus imaginationis, 1635, cited by Ballantyne, ojf). cit., p. 107. ^ De theriaca ad Pisonem, quoted by Ballantyne, of. cit. ^ Natural History, Holland's translation, p. 161. * Num. R. ix. 5 and 34. ^ Num. R. ix. 1. ® Ab. Zarah 24a. Kallah, R. Beraitha, x. ; also see Berachoth 5Ò. ® See article Birth in Hastings' Encyclopœdia.