The History of the Pregnancy Test from Rabbit Tests to Websites
The history of the pregnancy test is an interesting one,
and is naturally colored by myth, wives’ tales, and folk hypotheses.
And though “ancient” pregnancy tests were typically based on false
assumptions or pseudo-science, the ancient Egyptians at least knew where
to start looking: they considered a woman’s urine to be the best source
for prognosticating a pregnancy. To this end, the ancient Egyptians
were purported to mix urine with various grains; if the grains
germinated, you had a positive result, and depending on which grain
germinated, you could also determine the gender: a two-in-one
pregnancy and gender test! Fortunately, the Egyptians did not spend very
much on patenting this technique, as it turned out to not provide very
accurate results…
The Middle Ages brought us slightly more empirical
techniques, though the science was still off a bit. Various physicians
would closely analyze (describe) a urine sample or mix it with wine or
alcohol to determine a pregnancy result. Of course, during the Middle
Ages, the body was thought to be governed by the four humours (the
fluids that corresponded to our “four natures”), and not influenced by
hormones. So urine was studied and interpreted in the same way tea
leaves might read the future – solely on the basis of how it looked. And
while the descriptions of various urine results are quite detailed,
it’s likely that the Renaissance pregnancy test was not very reliable
either. A “smart” doctor might inquire about a few other physical
symptoms in order to sharpen the accuracy of his urine prophecy.
لا اله الا الله محمد رسول الله