"Only kept up by the credulous and ignorant": Eighteenth-century responses to the ancient beliefs about menstrual blood

Early-modern medicine can often be seen to be looking back and deferring to the ancient authorities of Hippocrates, Aristotle, and Galen rather than looking to the future. The futurity theme of this collection is, therefore, a useful one to apply to the history of medicine, because by examining medical texts over an extended period it becomes possible to see themes and trends developing which give an indication of the ways that medical theorists were beginning to envisage the future of their discipline. The ongoing attempts to theorise the exact nature of menstrual blood provide a useful subject for this sort of analysis.