784 Revzews ofwhich appeared inArthurzan Literature XIII: thetranslation is accompanied by admirably detailed annotation. Thetext isnotinitself Arthurian, butforms part of the legendary history ofBritain sointricately linked toArthurian literature. Morespecifically Arthurian discussion isprovided bythethree remaining items. Christopher Younglooksat 'The Character oftheIndividual inHartmann von Aue'sErec', discussing critical scholarship on Hartmann's romance andshowing that development ofErec'sroleoweslesstocharacterization than tothedemands ofa cyclic structure: formostofthetext, itis Enidewhoappears as themore developed character. (Thoughquotations from Hartmann are translated into English, passages from modern German critical works aregiven only inthe original; perhaps a problem for some regular subscribers toa publication with a wide remit.) In'TheUpbringing ofPerceval Heroes', ClaudeLuttrell contributes a characteristically detailed andconfident study ofthesubsequent handling, indifferent cultures and socialsettings, ofthescenesetin theearly pagesofChretien de Troyes's romance. He finds a wider useoftheBliocadran prologue thanmayhitherto have beenappreciated, andinthecourse ofa densely written discussion there aremany succinct observations onthe interrelationship oftexts andideas. Aninterdisciplinary approach canoften berefreshing, and,though someofhis statements mayraiseeyebrows morethana little, DavidStarkey's contribution, 'KingHenry andKingArthur', brings tolifetheyoung Prince Henry (later to become Henry VIII),anxious tobedonewith hisroleasspectator andparticipate actively intheArthurian-inspired tournament culture ofhisday.Starkey draws on both literary andhistorical evidence toargue that the prince's reading andpersonal background would already havecreated anenthusiasm for matters Arthurian, and proposes aninterpretation ofMalory that seesthelife ofArthur asa prefiguration ofthe career ofHenry V. Thepreface announces a change ofeditor for thenext volume: regular readers will want tothankJames Carley andFelicity Riddy for alltheir work during recent years, andwish Keith Busby wellashetakes over theresponsibility for a significant annual event inArthurian publishing. SUNDERLAND LINDA GOWANS Medieval EmbCyology intheVernacular: TheCaseof'Despermate'. BYPAIVI PAHTA. (Memoires dela Societe Neophilologique deHelsinki, LIII)Helsinki: Societe Neophilologique. I998. Xii + 328PP. $45. The fifteenth-century manuscript, Trinity College,Cambridge MS R.I4.52, contains theonly known translation intoanyvernacular language ofa Latintext known asDesperznate. TheLatin Desperrnate exists inatleast thirty-eight manuscripts, listed inanappendix, anditmay havebeenresponsible for introducing tothe West theideaofa seven-celled uterus. Thesurvival ofonly onevernacular translation maysuggest that itwasseenastootheoretical inanagewhen theemphasis layon practical medicine. PaiviPahtahere presents anedited text ofthis Middle English treatise withexplanatory notesanda Modern English paraphrase, prefaced by discussions ofmedieval medicine, theories ofembryology, andvernacularization. A selective glossary andbibliography areincluded, butthere isnoindex. Once wrongly attributed to Galen,De spermate seemstobe a compilation of Hippocratic, Galenic,Neoplatonic, numerological, and astrological ideas. It discusses theorigin andnature ofsperm, andthesuperiority of'maleseed'over 'female seed';the formation ofthe foetus inthe womb; the origin ofbreast milk; sex determination and foetalresemblance to parents and grandparents; and the MLR,96.3,200 I 785 movement ofsperm through the body, including the illnesses caused byits retention. After thesesections therefollows a highly detaileddescription of the four temperaments, andhowthetemperament ofanindividual iscaused bythetime of daywhensperm wasemitted. Thisdescription appearstobe interrupted bya digression onthesoul, before resuming with anevenmore complex analysis ofthe respective influences ontemperament provided bythe time ofconception, thetime one'sparents were conceived, the eXect ofthe position ofthe seedinthe right orthe left sideofthewomb, andthegender ofthechild. Asanexample ofhowtogetit right, thetext endswith thestory ofthetiming oftheconception ofAlexander the Great. Pahta's attempts toplacethis text initswider cultural, historical, andlinguistic contexts areimpressive, although the concise introductory sections onthe history of medical thought up to thefifteenth century are,perhaps inevitably, somewhat sketchy. Adiscussion oftheorigin ofhuman dissection (p.g)omits anyreference to Herophilus andErasistratus inthird-century BCAlexandria; when these two figures arementioned, onpages29and37,noreference ismadetoHeinrich vonStaden's magisterial Herophilus: 7he Art of Medicine inEar11y Alexandria (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, I989). Thediscussion ofearly midwifery (p.24,n. 35)doesnot progress beyond ThomasForbes's work, while a majoromission, JoanCadden's Meanings ofSex DifJrerence inthe Middle Ages (Cambridge andNewYork: Cambridge University Press, I 993),isnot justified byPahta's attempts toinsist onthe separation ofgynaecology andembryology asseparate 'branches ofknowledge' (p. 27). Pahta doesnotfollow upthe origins ofthedifferent ideascombined inDespermate (for example, the reference toCwhat Hippocrates says' about therisk ofmiscarriage ifa pregnant woman isbled(11. 78-80)needstobe compared with theavailable texts ofAphorisms 5.3I), butinstead usesthetext as a valuable test caseforour understanding oftheprocess oftranslation. Thesource text usedbythetranslator hasnot yet beenidentified, butinany casethe Latin manuscript tradition isa varied one.Pahtanevertheless detects thetranslator's failings inhis'command ofLatin andinhisfamiliarity with contemporary learned medicine' (p. I I 4),some ofwhich areprobably duetocorruption inthesource copy. Thetranslator struggles tofind appropriate lexical strategies andtoidentify MiddleEnglish equivalents for Latin words andsyntax. However, asthetranslator hasnotomitted material inorder to caterfora layaudience, it is possible thathe...