1. It has been made clear in the preceding discussion that nutrition occurs by an alteration or assimilation of that which nourishes to that which receives nourishment, and that there exists in every part of the animal a faculty which in view of its activity we call, in general terms, alterative, or, more specifically, assimilative and nutritive. It was also shown that a sufficient supply of the matter which the part being nourished makes into nutriment for itself is ensured by virtue of another faculty which naturally attracts its proper juice [humour] that juice is proper to each part which is adapted for assimilation, and that the faculty which attracts the juice is called, by reason of its activity, attractive or epispastic. It has also been shown that assimilation is preceded by adhesion, and this, again, by presentation, the latter stage being, as one might say, the end or goal of the activity corresponding to the attractive faculty. For the actual bringing up of nutriment from the veins into each of the parts takes place through the activation of the attractive faculty, whilst to have been finally brought up and presented to the part is the actual end for which we desired such an activity; it is attracted in order that it may be presented. After this, considerable time is needed for the nutrition of the animal; whilst a thing may be even rapidly attracted, on the other hand to become adherent, altered, and entirely assimilated to the part which is being nourished and to become a part of it, cannot take place suddenly, but requires a considerable amount of time. But if the nutritive juice, so presented, does not remain in the part, but withdraws to another one, and keeps flowing away, and constantly changing and shifting its position, neither adhesion nor complete assimilation will take place in any of them. Here too, then, the [animal's] nature has need of some other faculty for ensuring a prolonged stay of the presented juice at the part, and this not a faculty which comes in from somewhere outside but one which is resident in the part which is to be nourished. This faculty, again, in view of its activity our predecessors were obliged to call retentive. Thus our argument has clearly shown the necessity for the genesis of such a faculty, and whoever has an appreciation of logical sequence must be firmly persuaded from what we have said that, if it be laid down and proved by previous demonstration that Nature is artistic and solicitous for the animal's welfare, it necessarily follows that she must also possess a faculty of this kind.
1. Ὅτι μὲν οὖν ἡ θρέψις ἀλλοιουμένου τε καὶ ὁμοιουμένου γίγνεται τοῦ τρέφοντος τῷ τρεφομένῳ καὶ ὡς ἐν ἑκάστῳ τῶν τοῦ ζῴου μορίων ἐστί τις δύναμις, ἣν ἀπὸ τῆς ἐνεργείας ἀλλοιωτικὴν μὲν κατὰ γένος, ὁμοιωτικὴν δὲ καὶ θρεπτικὴν κατʼ εἶδος ὀνομάζομεν, ἐν τῷ πρόσθεν δεδήλωται λόγῳ. τὴν δʼ εὐπορίαν τῆς ὕλης, ἣν τροφὴν ἑαυτῷ ποιεῖται τὸ τρεφόμενον, ἐξ ἑτέρας τινὸς ἔχειν ἐδείκνυτο δυνάμεως ἐπισπᾶσθαι πεφυκυίας τὸν οἰκεῖον χυμόν, εἶναι δʼ οἰκεῖον ἑκάστῳ τῶν μορίων χυμόν, ὃς ἂν ἐπιτήδειος εἰς τὴν ἐξομοίωσιν ᾖ, καὶ τὴν ἕλκουσαν αὐτὸν δύναμιν ἀπὸ τῆς ἐνεργείας ἑλκτικήν τέ τινα καὶ ἐπισπαστικὴν ὀνομάζεσθαι. δέδεικται δὲ καί, ὡς πρὸ μὲν τῆς ὁμοιώσεως ἡ πρόσφυσίς ἐστιν, ἐκείνης δʼ ἔμπροσθεν ἡ πρόσθεσις γίγνεται, τέλος, ὡς ἂν εἴποι τις, οὖσα τῆς κατὰ τὴν ἐπισπαστικὴν δύναμιν ἐνεργείας. αὐτὸ μὲν γὰρ τὸ παράγεσθαι τὴν τροφὴν ἐκ τῶν φλεβῶν εἰς ἕκαστον τῶν μορίων τῆς ἑλκτικῆς ἐνεργούσης γίγνεται δυνάμεως, τὸ δʼ ἤδη παρῆχθαί τε καὶ προστίθεσθαι τῷ μορίῳ τὸ τέλος ἐστὶν αὐτό, διʼ ὃ καὶ τῆς τοιαύτης ἐνεργείας ἐδεήθημεν· ἵνα γὰρ προστεθῇ, διὰ τοῦθʼ ἕλκεται. χρόνου δʼ ἐντεῦθεν ἤδη πλείονος εἰς τὴν θρέψιν τοῦ ζῴου δεῖ· ἑλχθῆναι μὲν γὰρ καὶ διὰ ταχέων τι δύναται, προσφῦναι δὲ καὶ ἀλλοιωθῆναι καὶ τελέως ὁμοιωθῆναι τῷ τρεφομένῳ καὶ μέρος αὐτοῦ γενέσθαι παραχρῆμα μὲν οὐχ οἷόν τε, χρόνῳ δʼ ἂν πλείονι συμβαίνοι καλῶς. ἀλλʼ εἰ μὴ μένοι κατὰ τὸ μέρος ὁ προστεθεὶς οὗτος χυμός, εἰς ἕτερον δέ τι μεθίσταιτο καὶ παραρρέοι διὰ παντὸς ἀμείβων τε καὶ ὑπαλλάττων τὰ χωρία, κατʼ οὐδὲν αὐτῶν οὔτε πρόσφυσις οὔτʼ ἐξομοίωσις ἔσται. δεῖ δὲ κἀνταῦθά τινος τῇ φύσει δυνάμεως ἑτέρας εἰς πολυχρόνιον μονὴν τοῦ προστεθέντος τῷ μορίῳ χυμοῦ καὶ ταύτης οὐκ ἔξωθέν ποθεν ἐπιρρεούσης ἀλλʼ ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ θρεψομένῳ κατῳκισμένης, ἣν ἀπὸ τῆς ἐνεργείας πάλιν οἱ πρὸ ἡμῶν ἠναγκάσθησαν ὀνομάσαι καθεκτικήν. ὁ μὲν δὴ λόγος ἤδη σαφῶς ἐνεδείξατο τὴν ἀνάγκην τῆς γενέσεως τῆς τοιαύτης δυνάμεως καὶ ὅστις ἀκολουθίας σύνεσιν ἔχει, πέπεισται βεβαίως ἐξ ὧν εἴπομεν, ὡς ὑποκειμένου τε καὶ προαποδεδειγμένου τοῦ τεχνικὴν εἶναι τὴν φύσιν καὶ τοῦ ζῴου κηδεμονικὴν ἀναγκαῖον ὑπάρχειν αὐτῇ καὶ τὴν τοιαύτην δύναμιν.
2. Since, however, it is not our habit to employ this kind of demonstration alone, but to add thereto cogent and compelling proofs drawn from obvious facts, we will also proceed to the latter kind in the present instance: we will demonstrate that in certain parts of the body the retentive faculty is so obvious that its operation can be actually recognised by the senses, whilst in other parts it is less obvious to the senses, but is capable even here of being detected by the argument. Let us begin our exposition, then, by first dealing systematically for a while with certain definite parts of the body, in reference to which we may accurately test and enquire what sort of thing the retentive faculty is. Now, could one begin the enquiry in any better way than with the largest and hollowest organs? Personally I do not think one could. It is to be expected that in these, owing to their size, the activities will show quite clearly, whereas with respect to the small organs, even if they possess a strong faculty of this kind, its activation will not at once be recognisable to sense. Now those parts of the animal which are especially hollow and large are the stomach and the organ which is called the womb or uterus. What prevents us, then, from taking up these first and considering their activities, conducting the enquiry on our own persons in regard to those activities which are obvious without dissection, and, in the case of those which are more obscure, dissecting animals which are near to man; not that even animals unlike him will not show, in a general way, the faculty in question, but because in this manner we may find out at once what is common to all and what is peculiar to ourselves, and so may become more resourceful in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. Now it is impossible to speak of both organs at once, so we shall deal with each in turn, beginning with the one which is capable of demonstrating the retentive faculty most plainly. For the stomach retains the food until it has quite digested it, and the uterus retains the embryo until it brings it to completion, but the time taken for the completion of the embryo is many times more than that for the digestion of food.
2. ἀλλʼ ἡμεῖς οὐ τούτῳ μόνῳ τῷ γένει τῆς ἀποδείξεως εἰθισμένοι χρῆσθαι, προστιθέντες δʼ αὐτῷ καὶ τὰς ἐκ τῶν ἐναργῶς φαινομένων ἀναγκαζούσας τε καὶ βιαζομένας πίστεις ἐπὶ τὰς τοιαύτας καὶ νῦν ἀφιξόμεθα καὶ δείξομεν ἐπὶ μέν τινων μορίων τοῦ σώματος οὕτως ἐναργῆ τὴν καθεκτικὴν δύναμιν, ὡς αὐταῖς ταῖς αἰσθήσεσι διαγιγνώσκεσθαι τὴν ἐνέργειαν αὐτῆς, ἐπὶ δέ τινων ἧττον μὲν ἐναργῶς ταῖς αἰσθήσεσι, λόγῳ δὲ κἀνταῦθα φωραθῆναι δυναμένην. Ἀρξώμεθʼ οὖν τῆς διδασκαλίας ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ τοῦ τέως πρῶτον μεθόδῳ τινὶ προχειρίσασθαι μόριʼ ἄττα τοῦ σώματος, ἐφʼ ὧν ἀκριβῶς ἔστι βασανίσαι τε καὶ ζητῆσαι τὴν καθεκτικὴν δύναμιν ὁποία ποτʼ ἐστίν. ἆρʼ οὖν ἄμεινον ἄν τις ἑτέρωθεν ἢ ἀπὸ τῶν μεγίστων τε καὶ κοιλοτάτων ὀργάνων ὑπάρξαιτο τῆς ζητήσεως; ἐμοὶ μὲν οὖν οὐκ ἂν δοκεῖ βέλτιον. ἐναργεῖς γοῦν εἰκὸς ἐπὶ τούτων φανῆναι τὰς ἐνεργείας διὰ τὸ μέγεθος· ὡς τά γε σμικρὰ τάχʼ ἄν, εἰ καὶ σφοδρὰν ἔχει τὴν τοιαύτην δύναμιν, ἀλλʼ οὐκ αἰσθήσει γʼ ἑτοίμην διαγιγνώσκεσθαι τὴν ἐνέργειαν αὐτῆς. ἀλλʼ ἔστιν ἐν τοῖς μάλιστα κοιλότατα καὶ μέγιστα τῶν τοῦ ζῴου μορίων ἥ τε γαστὴρ καὶ αἱ μῆτραί τε καὶ ὑστέραι καλούμεναι. τί οὖν κωλύει ταῦτα πρῶτα προχειρισαμένους ἐπισκέψασθαι τὰς ἐνεργείας αὐτῶν, ὅσαι μὲν καὶ πρὸ τῆς ἀνατομῆς δῆλαι, τὴν ἐξέτασιν ἐφʼ ἡμῶν αὐτῶν ποιουμένους, ὅσαι δʼ ἀμυδρότεραι, τὰ παραπλήσια διαιροῦντας ἀνθ ρώπῳ ζῷα, οὐχ ὡς οὐκ ἂν ἱκανῶς τό γε καθόλου περὶ τῆς ζητουμένης δυνάμεως καὶ τῶν ἀνομοίων ἐνδειξομένων, ἀλλʼ ὡς ἵνʼ ἅμα τῷ κοινῷ καὶ τὸ ἴδιον ἐφʼ ἡμῶν αὐτῶν ἐγνωκότες εἴς τε τὰς διαγνώσεις τῶν νοσημάτων καὶ τὰς ἰάσεις εὐπορώτεροι γιγνώμεθα. περὶ μὲν οὖν ἀμφοτέρων τῶν ὀργάνων ἅμα λέγειν ἀδύνατον, ἐν μέρει δʼ ὑπὲρ ἑκατέρου ποιησόμεθα τὸν λόγον ἀπὸ τοῦ σαφέστερον ἐνδείξασθαι δυναμένου τὴν καθεκτικὴν δύναμιν ἀρξάμενοι. κατέχει μὲν γὰρ καὶ ἡ γαστὴρ τὰ σιτία, μέχρι περ ἂν ἐκπέψῃ, κατέχουσι δὲ καὶ αἱ μῆτραι τὸ ἔμβρυον, ἔστʼ ἂν τελειώσωσιν· ἀλλὰ πολλαπλάσιός ἐστιν ὁ τῆς τῶν ἐμβρύων τελειώσεως χρόνος τῆς τῶν σιτίων πέψεως.
3. We may expect, then, to detect the retentive faculty in the uterus more clearly in proportion to the longer duration of its activity as compared with that of the stomach. For, as we know, it takes nine months in most women for the foetus to attain maturity in the womb, this organ having its neck quite closed, and entirely surrounding the embryo together with the chorion. Further, it is the utility of the function which determines the closure of the os and the stay of the foetus in the uterus. For it is not casually nor without reason that Nature has made the uterus capable of contracting upon, and of retaining the embryo, but in order that the latter may arrive at a proper size. When, therefore, the object for which the uterus brought its retentive faculty into play has been fulfilled, it then stops this faculty and brings it back to a state of rest, and employs instead of it another faculty hitherto quiescent — the propulsive faculty. In this case again the quiescent and active states are both determined by utility; when this calls, there is activity; when it does not, there is rest. Here, then, once more, we must observe well the Art [artistic tendency] of Nature — how she has not merely placed in each organ the capabilities of useful activities, but has also fore-ordained the times both of rest and movement. For everything connected with the pregnancy proceeds properly, the eliminative faculty remains quiescent as though it did not exist, but if anything goes wrong in connection either with the chorion or any of the other membranes or with the foetus itself, and its completion is entirely despaired of, then the uterus no longer awaits the nine-months period, but the retentive faculty forthwith ceases and allows the heretofore inoperative faculty to come into action. Now it is that something is done — in fact, useful work effected — by the eliminative or propulsive faculty (for so it, too, has been called, receiving, like the rest, its names from the corresponding activities). Further, our theory can, I think, demonstrate both together; for seeing that they succeed each other, and that the one keeps giving place to the other according as utility demands, it seems not unreasonable to accept a common demonstration also for both. Thus it is the work of the retentive faculty to make the uterus contract upon the foetus at every point, so that, naturally enough, when the midwives palpate it, the os is found to be closed, whilst the pregnant women themselves, during the first days — and particularly on that on which conception takes place — experience a sensation as if the uterus were moving and contracting upon itself. Now, if both of these things occur — if the os closes apart from inflammation or any other disease, and if this is accompanied by a feeling of movement in the uterus — then the women believe that they have received the semen which comes from the male, and that they are retaining it. Now we are not inventing this for ourselves: one may say the statement is based on prolonged experience of those who occupy themselves with such matters. Thus Herophilus does not hesitate to state in his writings that up to the time of labour the os uteri will not admit so much as the tip of a probe, that it no longer opens to the slightest degree if pregnancy has begun — that, in fact, it dilates more widely at the times of the menstrual flow. With him are in agreement all the others who have applied themselves to this subject; and particularly Hippocrates, who was the first of all physicians and philosophers to declare that the os uteri closes during pregnancy and inflammation, albeit in pregnancy it does not depart from its own nature, whilst in inflammation it becomes hard. In the case of the opposite (the eliminative) faculty, the os opens, whilst the whole fundus approaches as near as possible to the os, expelling the embryo as it does so; and along with the fundus the contiguous parts — which form as it were a girdle round the whole organ — cooperate in the work; they squeeze upon the embryo and propel it bodily outwards. And, in many women who exercise such a faculty immoderately, violent pains cause forcible prolapse of the whole womb; here almost the same thing happens as frequently occurs in wresting-bouts and struggles, when in our eagerness to overturn and throw others we are ourselves upset along with them; for similarly when the uterus is forcing the embryo forward it sometimes becomes entirely prolapsed, and particularly when the ligaments connecting it with the spine happen to be naturally lax. A wonderful device of Nature's also is this — that, when the foetus is alive, the os uteri is closed with perfect accuracy, but if it dies, the os at once opens up to the extent which is necessary for the foetus to make its exit. The midwife, however, does not make the parturient woman get up at once and sit down on the [obstetric] chair, but she begins by palpating the os as it gradually dilates, and the first thing she says is that it has dilated “enough to admit the little finger,” then that “it is bigger now,” and as we make enquiries from time to time, she answers that the size of the dilatation is increasing. And when it is sufficient to allow of the transit of the foetus, she then makes the patient get up from her bed and sit on the chair, and bids her make every effort to expel the child. Now, this additional work which the patient does of herself is no longer the work of the uterus but of the epigastric muscles, which also help us in defaecation and micturition.
3. εἰκὸς οὖν καὶ τὴν δύναμιν ἐναργέστερον ἐν ταῖς μήτραις φωράσειν ἡμᾶς τὴν καθεκτικήν, ὅσῳ καὶ πολυχρονιωτέραν τῆς γαστρὸς τὴν ἐνέργειαν κέκτηται. μησὶ γὰρ ἐννέα που ταῖς πλείσταις τῶν γυναικῶν ἐν αὐταῖς τελειοῦται τὰ κυήματα, μεμυκυίαις μὲν ἅπαντι τῷ αὐχένι, περιεχούσαις δὲ πανταχόθεν αὐτὰ σὺν τῷ χορίῳ. καὶ πέρας γε τῆς τοῦ στόματος μύσεως καὶ τῆς τοῦ κυουμένου κατὰ τὰς μήτρας μονῆς ἡ χρεία τῆς ἐνεργείας ἐστίν· οὐ γὰρ ὡς ἔτυχεν οὐδʼ ἀλόγως ἱκανὰς περιστέλλεσθαι καὶ κατέχειν τὸ ἔμβρυον ἡ φύσις ἀπείργασατο τὰς ὑστέρας, ἀλλʼ ἵνʼ εἰς τὸ πρέπον ἀφίκηται μέγεθος τὸ κυούμενον. ὅταν οὖν, οὗ χάριν ἐνήργουν τῇ καθεκτ́ικῇ δυνάμει, συμπεπληρωμένον ᾖ, ταύτην μὲν ἀνέπαυσάν τε καὶ εἰς ἠρεμίαν ἐπανήγαγον, ἀντʼ αὐτῆς δʼ ἑτέρᾳ χρῶνται τῆς τέως ἡσυχαζούσῃ, τῇ προωστικῇ. ἦν δʼ ἄρα καὶ τῆς ἐκείνης ἡσυχίας ὅρος ἡ χρεία καὶ τῆς γʼ ἐνεργείας ὡσαύτως ἡ χρεία· καλούσης μὲν γὰρ αὐτῆς ἐνεργεῖ, μὴ καλούσης δʼ ἡσυχάζει. καὶ χρὴ πάλιν κἀνταῦθα καταμαθεῖν τῆς φύσεως τὴν τέχνην, ὡς οὐ μόνον ἐνεργειῶν χρησίμων δυνάμεις ἐνέθηκεν ἑκάστῳ τῶν ὀργάνων, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦ τῶν ἡσυχιῶν τε καὶ κινήσεων καιροῦ προὐνοήσατο. καλῶς μὲν γὰρ ἁπάντων γιγνομένων τῶν κατὰ τὴν κύησιν ἡ ἀποκριτικὴ δύναμις ἡσυχάζει τελέως ὥσπερ οὐκ οὖσα, κακοπραγίας δέ τινος γενομένης ἢ περὶ τὸ χορίον ἢ περί τινα τῶν ἄλλων ὑμένων ἢ περὶ τὸ κυούμενον αὐτὸ καὶ τῆς τελειώσεως αὐτοῦ παντάπασιν ἀπογνωσθείσης οὐκέτʼ ἀναμένουσι τὸν ἐννεάμηνον αἱ μῆτραι χρόνον, ἀλλʼ ἡ μὲν καθεκτικὴ δύναμις αὐτίκα δὴ πέπαυται καὶ παραχωρεῖ κινεῖσθαι τῇ πρότερον ἀργούσῃ, πράττει δʼ ἤδη τι καὶ πραγματεύεται χρηστὸν ἡ ἀποκριτική τε καὶ προωστική· καὶ γὰρ οὖν καὶ ταύτην οὕτως ἐκάλεσαν ἀπὸ τῶν ἐνεργειῶν αὐτῇ τὰ ὀνόματα θέμενοι καθάπερ καὶ ταῖς ἄλλαις. καί πως ὁ λόγος ἔοικεν ὑπὲρ ἀμφοτέρων ἀποδείξειν ἅμα· καὶ γάρ τοι καὶ διαδεχομένας αὐτὰς ἀλλήλας καὶ παραχωροῦσαν ἀεὶ τὴν ἑτέραν τῇ λοιπῇ, καθότι ἂν ἡ χρεία κελεύῃ, καὶ τὴν διδασκαλίαν κοινὴν οὐκ ἀπεικός ἐστι δέχεσθαι. τῆς μὲν οὖν καθεκτικῆς δυνάμεως ἔργον περιστεῖλαι τὰς μήτρας τῷ κυουμένῳ πανταχόθεν, ὥστʼ εὐλόγως ἁπτομέναις μὲν ταῖς μαιευτρίαις τὸ στόμα μεμυκὸς αὐτῶν φαίνεται, ταῖς κυούσαις δʼ αὐταῖς κατὰ τὰς πρώτας ἡμέρας καὶ μάλιστα κατʼ αὐτὴν ἐκείνην, ἐν ᾗπερ ἂν ἡ τῆς γονῆς σύλληψις γένηται, κινουμένων τε καὶ συντρεχουσῶν εἰς ἑαυτὰς τῶν ὑστερῶν αἴσθησις γίγνεται καὶ ἢν ἄμφω ταῦτα συμβῇ, μῦσαι μὲν τὸ στόμα χωρὶς φλεγμονῆς ἤ τινος ἄλλου παθήματος, αἴσθησιν δὲ τῆς κατὰ τὰς μήτρας κινήσεως ἀκολουθῆσαι, πρὸς αὑτὰς ἤδη τὸ σπέρμα τὸ παρὰ τἀνδρὸς εἰληφέναι τε καὶ κατέχειν αἱ γυναῖκες νομίζουσι. ταῦτα δʼ οὐχ ἡμεῖς νῦν ἀναπλάττομεν ἡμῖν αὐτοῖς, ἀλλʼ ἐκ μακρᾶς πείρας δοκιμασθέντα πᾶσι γέγραπται σχεδόν τι τοῖς περὶ τούτων πραγματευσαμένοις. Ἡρόφιλος μέν γε καὶ ὡς οὐδὲ πυρῆνα μήλης ἂν δέχοιτο τῶν μητρῶν τὸ στόμα, πρὶν ἀποκυεῖν τὴν γυναῖκα, καὶ ὡς οὐδὲ τοὐλάχιστον ἔτι διέστηκεν, ἢν ὑπάρξηται κύειν, καὶ ὡς ἐπὶ πλέον ἀναστομοῦνται κατὰ τὰς τῶν ἐπιμηνίων φοράς, οὐκ ὤκνησε γράφειν· συνομολογοῦσι δʼ αὐτῷ καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι πάντες οἱ περὶ τούτων πραγματευσάμενοι καὶ πρῶτός γʼ ἁπάντων ἰατρῶν τε καὶ φιλοσόφων Ἱπποκράτης ἀπεφήνατο μύειν τὸ στόμα τῶν ὑστερῶν ἔν τε ταῖς κυήσεσι καὶ ταῖς φλεγμοναῖς, ἀλλʼ ἐν μὲν ταῖς κυήσεσιν οὐκ ἐξιστάμενον τῆς φύσεως, ἐν δὲ ταῖς φλεγμοναῖς σκληρὸν γιγνόμενον. ἐπὶ δέ γε τῆς ἐναντίας τῆς ἐκκριτικῆς ἀνοίγνυται μὲν τὸ στόμα, προέρχεται δʼ ὁ πυθμὴν ἅπας ὅσον οἷόν τʼ ἐγγυτάτω τοῦ στόματος ἀπωθούμενος ἔξω τὸ ἔμβρυον, ἅμα δʼ αὐτῷ καὶ τὰ συνεχῆ μέρη τὰ οἷον πλευρὰ τοῦ παντὸς ὀργάνου συνεπιλαμβανόμενα τοῦ ἔργου θλίβει τε καὶ προωθεῖ πᾶν ἔξω τὸ ἔμβρυον. καὶ πολλαῖς τῶν γυναικῶν ὠδῖνες βίαιοι τὰς μήτρας ὅλας ἐκπεσεῖν ἠνάγκασαν ἀμέτρως χρησαμέναις τῇ τοιαύτῃ δυνάμει, παραπλησίου τινὸς γιγνομένου τῷ πολλάκις ἐν πάλαις τισὶ καὶ φιλονεικίαις συμβαίνοντι, ὅταν ἀνατρέψαι τε καὶ καταβαλεῖν ἑτέρους σπεύδοντες αὐτοὶ συγκαταπέσωμεν. οὕτω γὰρ καὶ αἱ μῆτραι τὸ ἔμβρυον ὠθοῦσαι συνεξέπεσον ἐνίοτε καὶ μάλισθʼ, ὅταν οἱ πρὸς τὴν Ῥάχιν αὐτῶν σύνδεσμοι χαλαροὶ φύσει τυγχάνωσιν ὄντες. ἔστι δὲ καὶ τοῦτο θαυμαστόν τι τῆς φύσεως σόφισμα, τὸ ζῶντος μὲν τοῦ κυήματος ἀκριβῶς πάνυ μεμυκέναι τὸ στόμα τῶν μητρῶν, ἀποθανόντος δὲ παραχρῆμα διανοίγεσθαι τοσοῦτον, ὅσον εἰς τὴν ἔξοδον αὐτοῦ διαφέρει. καὶ μέντοι καὶ αἱ μαῖαι τὰς τικτούσας οὐκ εὐθὺς ἀνιστᾶσιν οὐδʼ ἐπὶ τὸν δίφρον καθίζουσιν, ἀλλʼ ἅπτονται πρότερον ἀνοιγομένου τοῦ στόματος κατὰ βραχὺ καὶ πρῶτον μέν, ὥστε τὸν μικρὸν δάκτυλον καθιέναι, διεστηκέναι φασίν, ἔπειτʼ ἤδη καὶ μεῖζον καὶ κατὰ βραχὺ δὴ πυνθανομένοις ἡμῖν ἀποκρίνονται τὸ μέγεθος τῆς διαστάσεως ἐπαυξανόμενον. ὅταν δʼ ἱκανὸν ᾖ πρὸς τὴν τοῦ κυουμένου δίοδον, ἀνιστᾶσιν αὐτὰς καὶ καθίζουσι καὶ προθυμεῖσθαι κελεύουσιν ἀπώσασθαι τὸ παιδίον. ἔστι δʼ ἤδη τοῦτο τὸ ἔργον, ὃ παρʼ ἑαυτῶν αἱ κύουσαι προστιθέασιν, οὐκέτι τῶν ὑστερῶν, ἀλλὰ τῶν κατʼ ἐπιγάστριον μυῶν, οἳ πρὸς τὴν ἀποπάτησίν τε καὶ τὴν οὔρησιν ἡμῖν συνεργοῦσιν.
4. Thus the two faculties are clearly to be seen in the case of the uterus; in the case of the stomach they appear as follows: — Firstly in the condition of gurgling, which physicians are persuaded, and with reason, to be a symptom of weakness of the stomach; for sometimes when the very smallest quantity of food has been ingested this does not occur, owing to the fact that the stomach is contracting accurately upon the food and constricting it at every point; sometimes when the stomach is full the gurglings yet make themselves heard as though it were empty. For if it be in a natural condition, employing its contractile faculty in the ordinary way, then, even if its contents be very small, it grasps the whole of them and does not leave any empty space. When it is weak, however, being unable to lay hold of its contents accurately, it produces a certain amount of vacant space, and amount of vacant space, and allows the liquid contents to flow about in different directions in accordance with its changes of shape, and so to produce gurglings. Thus those who are troubled with this symptom expect, with good reason, that they will also be unable to digest adequately; proper digestion cannot take place in a weak stomach. In such people also, the mass of food may be plainly seen to remain an abnormally long time in the stomach, as would be natural if their digestion were slow. Indeed, the chief way in which these people will surprise one is in the length of time that not food alone but even fluids will remain in their stomachs. Now, the actual cause of this is not, as one would imagine, that the lower outlet of the stomach, being fairly narrow, will allow nothing to pass before being reduced to a fine state of division. There are a great many people who frequently swallow large quantities of big fruit-stones; one person who was holding a gold ring in his mouth, inadvertently swallowed it; another swallowed a coin, and various people have swallowed various hard and indigestible objects; yet all these people easily passed by the bowel what they had swallowed, without there being any subsequent symptoms. Now surely if narrowness of the gastric outlet were the cause of untriturated food remaining for an abnormally long time, none of these articles I have mentioned would ever have escaped. Furthermore, the fact that it is liquids which remain longest in these people's stomachs is sufficient to put the idea of narrowness of the outlet out of court. For, supposing a rapid descent were dependent upon emulsification, then soups, milk, and barley-emulsion would at once pass along in every case. But as a matter of fact this is not so. For in people who are extremely asthenic it is just these fluids which remain undigested, which accumulate and produce gurglings, and which oppress and overload the stomach, whereas in strong persons not merely do none of these things happen, but even a large quantity of bread or meat passes rapidly down. And it is not only because the stomach is distended and loaded and because the fluid runs from one part of it to another accompanied by gurglings — it is not only for these reasons that one would judge that there was an unduly long continuance of the food in it, in those people who are so disposed, but also from the vomiting. Thus, there are some who vomit up every particle of what they have eaten, not after three or four hours, but actually in the middle of the night, a lengthy period having elapsed since their meal. Suppose you fill any animal whatsoever with liquid food — an experiment I have often carried out in pigs, to whom I give a sort of mess of wheaten flour and water, there after cutting them open after three or four hours; if you will do this yourself, you will find the food still in the stomach. For it is not chylification which determines the length of its stay here — since this can also be effected outside the stomach; the determining factor is digestion which is a different thing from chylification, as are blood-production and nutrition. For, just as it has been shown that these two processes depend upon a change of qualities, similarly also the digestion of food in the stomach involves a transmutation of it into the quality proper to that which is receiving nourishment. Then, when it is completely digested, the lower outlet opens and the food is quickly ejected through it, even if there should be amongst it abundance of stones, bones, grape-pips, or other things which cannot be reduced to chyle. And you may observe this yourself in an animal, if you will try to hit upon the time at which the descent of food from the stomach takes place. But even if you should fail to discover the time, and nothing was yet passing down, and the food was still undergoing digestion in the stomach, still even then you would find dissection not without its uses. You will observe, as we have just said, that the pylorus is accurately closed, and that the whole stomach is in a state of contraction upon the food very much as the womb contracts upon the foetus. For it is never possible to find a vacant space in the uterus, the stomach, or in either of the two bladders — that is, either in that called bile-receiving or in the other; whether their contents be abundant or scanty, their cavities are seen to be replete and full, owing to the fact that their coats contract constantly upon the contents — so long, as least, as the animal is in a natural condition. Now Erasistratus for some reason declares that it is the contractions of the stomach which are the cause of everything — that is to say, of the softening of the food, the removal of waste matter, and the absorption of the food when chylified [emulsified]. Now I have personally, on countless occasions, divided the peritoneum of a still living animal and have always found all the intestines contracting peristaltically upon their contents. The condition of the stomach, however, is found less simple; as regards the substances freshly swallowed, it had grasped these accurately both above and below, in fact at every point, and was as devoid of movement as though it had grown round and become united with the food. At the same time I found the pylorus persistently closed and accurately shut, like the os uteri on the foetus. In the cases, however, where digestion had been completed the pylorus had opened, and the stomach was undergoing peristaltic movements, similar to those of the intestines.
4. οὕτω μὲν ἐπὶ τῶν μητρῶν ἐναργῶς αἱ δύο φαίνονται δυνάμεις, ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς γαστρὸς ὧδε. πρῶτον μὲν τοῖς κλύδωσιν, οἳ δὴ καὶ πεπίστευνται τοῖς ἰατροῖς ἀρρώστου κοιλίας εἶναι συμπτώματα καὶ κατὰ λόγον πεπίστευνται· ἐνίοτε μὲν γὰρ ἐλάχιστα προσενηνεγμένων οὐ γίγνονται περιστελλομένης ἀκριβῶς αὐτοῖς τῆς γαστρὸς καὶ σφιγγούσης πανταχόθεν, ἐνίοτε δὲ μεστὴ μὲν ἡ γαστήρ ἐστιν, οἱ κλύδωνες δʼ ὡς ἐπὶ κενῆς ἐξακούονται. κατὰ φύσιν μὲν γὰρ ἔχουσα καὶ χρωμένη καλῶς τῇ περισταλτικῇ δυνάμει, κἂν ὀλίγον ᾖ τὸ περιεχόμενον, ἅπαν αὐτὸ περιλαμβάνουσα χώραν οὐδεμίαν ἀπολείπει κενήν, ἀρρωστοῦσα δέ, καθότι ἂν ἀδυνατήσῃ περιλαβεῖν ἀκριβῶς, ἐνταῦθʼ εὐρυχωρίαν τινʼ ἐργαζομένη συγχωρεῖ τοῖς περιεχομένοις ὑγροῖς κατὰ τὰς τῶν σχημάτων μεταλλαγὰς ἄλλοτʼ ἀλλαχόσε μεταρρεουσι κλύδωνας ἀποτελεῖν. εὐλόγως οὖν, ὅτι μηδὲ πέψουσιν ἱκανῶς, οἱ ἐν τῶδε τῷ συμπτώματι γενόμενοι προσδοκῶσιν· οὐ γὰρ ἐνδέχεται πέψαι καλῶς ἄρρωστον γαστέρα. τοῖς τοιούτοις δὲ καὶ μέχρι πλείονος ἐν αὐτῇ φαίνεται παραμένον τὸ βάρος, ὡς ἂν καὶ βραδύτερον πέττουσι. καὶ μὴν θαυμάσειεν ἄν τις ἐπʼ αὐτῶν τούτων μάλιστα τὸ πολυχρόνιον τῆς ἐν τῇ γαστρὶ διατριβῆς οὐ τῶν σιτίων μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦ πόματος· οὐ γάρ, ὅπερ ἂν οἰηθείη τις, ὡς τὸ τῆς γαστρὸς στόμα τὸ κάτω στενὸν ἱκανῶς ὑπάρχον οὐδὲν παρίησι πρὶν ἀκριβῶς λειωθῆναι, τοῦτʼ αἴτιον ὄντως ἐστί. πολλὰ γοῦν πολλάκις ὀπωρῶν ὀστᾶ μέγιστα καταπίνουσι πάμπολλοι καί τις δακτύλιον χρυσοῦν ἐν τῷ στόματι φυλάττων ἄκων κατέπιε καὶ ἄλλος τις νόμισμα καὶ ἄλλος ἄλλο τι σκληρὸν καὶ δυσκατέργαστον, ἀλλʼ ὅμως ἅπαντες οὗτοι Ῥᾳδίως ἀπεπάτησαν, ἃ κατέπιον, οὐδενὸς αὐτοῖς ἀκολουθήσαντος συμπτώματος. εἰ δέ γʼ ἡ στενότης τοῦ πόρου τῆς γαστρὸς αἰτία τοῦ μένειν ἐπὶ πλέον ἦν τοῖς ἀτρίπτοις σιτίοις, οὐδὲν ἂν τούτων ποτὲ διεχώρησεν. ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ τὰ πόματʼ αὐτοῖς ἐν τῇ γαστρὶ παραμένειν ἐπὶ πλεῖστον ἱκανὸν ἀπάγειν τὴν ὑπόνοιαν τοῦ πόρου τῆς στενότητος· ὅλως γάρ, εἴπερ ἦν ἐν τῷ κεχυλῶσθαι τὸ θᾶττον ὑπιέναι, τά τε Ῥοφήματʼ ἂν οὕτω καὶ τὸ γάλα καὶ ὁ τῆς πτισάνης χυλὸς αὐτίκα διεξῄει πᾶσιν. ἀλλʼ οὐχ ὧδʼ ἔχει· τοῖς μὲν γὰρ ἀσθενέσιν ἐπὶ πλεῖστον ἐμπλεῖ ταῦτα καὶ κλύδωνας ἐργάζεται παραμένοντα καὶ θλίβει καὶ βαρύνει τὴν γαστέρα, τοῖς δʼ ἰσχυροῖς οὐ μόνον τούτων οὐδὲν συμβαίνει, ἀλλὰ καὶ πολὺ πλῆθος ἄρτων καὶ κρεῶν ὑποχωρεῖ ταχέως. οὐ μόνον δʼ ἐκ τοῦ περιτετάσθαι τὴν γαστέρα καὶ βαρύνεσθαι καὶ μεταρρεῖν ἄλλοτʼ εἰς ἄλλα μέρη μετὰ κλύδωνος τὸ παραμένειν ἐπὶ πλέον ἐν αὐτῇ πάντως τοῖς οὕτως ἔχουσι τεκμήραιτʼ ἄν τις ἀλλὰ κἀκ τῶν ἐμέτων· ἔνιοι γὰρ οὐ μετὰ τρεῖς ὥρας ἢ τέτταρας ἀλλὰ νυκτῶν ἤδη μέσων παμπόλλου μεταξὺ χρόνου διελθόντος ἐπὶ ταῖς προσφοραῖς ἀνήμεσαν ἀκριβῶς ἅπαντα τὰ ἐδηδεσμένα. καὶ μὲν δὴ καὶ ζῷον ὁτιοῦν ἐμπλήσας ὑγρᾶς τροφῆς, ὥσπερ ἡμεῖς πολλάκις ἐπὶ συῶν ἐπειράθημεν ἐξ ἀλεύρων μέθʼ ὕδατος οἷον κυκεῶνά τινα δόντες αὐτοῖς, ἔπειτα μετὰ τρεῖς που καὶ τέτταρας ὥρας ἀνατεμόντες, εἰ οὕτω καὶ σὺ πράξειας, εὑρήσεις ἔτι κατὰ τὴν γαστέρα τὰ ἐδηδεσμένα· πέρας γὰρ αὐτοῖς ἐστι τῆς ἐνταῦθα μονῆς οὐχ ἡ χύλωσις, ἣν καὶ ἐκτὸς ἔτι ὄντων μηχανήσασθαι δυνατόν ἐστιν, ἀλλʼ ἡ πέψις, ἕτερόν τι τῆς χυλώσεως οὖσα, καθάπερ αἱμάτωσίς τε καὶ θρέψις. ὡς γὰρ κἀκεῖνα δέδεικται ποιοτήτων μεταβολῇ γιγνόμενα, τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον καὶ ἡ ἐν τῇ γαστρὶ πέψις τῶν σιτίων εἰς τὴν οἰκείαν ἐστὶ τῷ τρεφομένῳ ποιότητα μεταβολὴ καὶ ὅταν γε πεφθῇ τελέως, ἀνοίγνυται μὲν τηνικαῦτα τὸ κάτω στόμα, διεκπίπτει δʼ αὐτοῦ τὰ σιτία Ῥᾳδίως, εἰ καὶ πλῆθός τι μεθʼ ἑαυτῶν ἔχοντα τύχοι λίθων ἢ ὀστῶν ἢ γιγάρτων ἤ τινος ἄλλου χυλωθῆναι μὴ δυναμένου. καί σοι τοῦτʼ ἔνεστιν ἐπὶ ζῴου θεάσασθαι στοχασαμένῳ τὸν καιρὸν τῆς κάτω διεξόδου. καὶ μέν γε καὶ εἰ σφαλείης ποτὲ τοῦ καιροῦ καὶ μηδὲν μήπω κάτω παρέρχοιτο πεττομένων ἔτι κατὰ τὴν γαστέρα τῶν σιτίων, οὐδʼ οὕτως ἄκαρπος ἡ ἀνατομή σοι γενήσεται· θεάσῃ γὰρ ἐπʼ αὐτῶν, ὅπερ ὀλίγῳ πρόσθεν ἐλέγομεν, ἀκριβῶς μὲν μεμυκότα τὸν πυλωρόν, ἅπασαν δὲ τὴν γαστέρα περιεσταλμένην τοῖς σιτίοις τρόπον ὁμοιότατον, οἷόνπερ καὶ αἱ μῆτραι τοῖς κυουμένοις. οὐ γὰρ ἔστιν οὐδέποτε κενὴν εὑρεῖν χώραν οὔτε κατὰ τὰς ὑστέρας οὔτε κατὰ τὴν κοιλίαν οὔτε κατὰ τὰς κύστεις ἀμφοτέρας οὔτε κατὰ τὴν χοληδόχον ὀνομαζομένην οὔτε τὴν ἑτέραν· ἀλλʼ εἴτʼ ὀλίγον εἴη τὸ περιεχόμενον ἐν αὐταῖς εἴτε πολύ, μεσταὶ καὶ πλήρεις αὐτῶν αἱ κοιλίαι φαίνονται περιστελλομένων ἀεὶ τῶν χιτώνων τοῖς περιεχομένοις, ὅταν γε κατὰ φύσιν ἔχῃ τὸ ζῷον. Ἐρασίστρατος δʼ οὐκ οἶδʼ ὅπως τὴν περιστολὴν τῆς γαστρὸς ἁπάντων αἰτίαν ἀποφαίνει καὶ τῆς λειώσεως τῶν σιτίων καὶ τῆς τῶν περιττωμάτων ὑποχωρήσεως καὶ τῆς τῶν κεχυλωμένων ἀναδόσεως. ἐγὼ μὲν γὰρ μυριάκις ἐπὶ ζῶντος ἔτι τοῦ ζῴου διελὼν τὸ περιτόναιον εὗρον ἀεὶ τὰ μὲν ἔντερα πάντα περιστελλόμενα τοῖς ἐνυπάρχουσι, τὴν κοιλίαν δʼ οὐχ ἁπλῶς, ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ μὲν ταῖς ἐδωδαῖς ἄνωθέν τε καὶ κάτωθεν αὐτὰ καὶ πανταχόθεν ἀκριβῶς περιειληφυῖαν ἀκίνητον, ὡς δοκεῖν ἡνῶσθαι καὶ περιπεφυκέναι τοῖς σιτίοις· ἐν δὲ τούτῳ καὶ τὸν πυλωρὸν εὕρισκον ἀεὶ μεμυκότα καὶ κεκλεισμένον ἀκριβῶς ὥσπερ τὸ τῶν ὑστερῶν στόμα ταῖς ἐγκύμοσιν. ἐπὶ μέντοι ταῖς πέψεσι συμπεπληρωμέναις ἀνέῳκτο μὲν ὁ πυλωρός, ἡ γαστὴρ δὲ περισταλτικῶς ἐκινεῖτο παραπλησίως τοῖς ἐντέροις.
5. Thus all these facts agree that the stomach, uterus, and bladders possess certain inborn faculties which are retentive of their own proper qualities and eliminative of those that are foreign. For it has been already shown that the bladder by the liver draws bile into itself, while it is also quite obvious that it eliminates this daily into the stomach. Now, of course, if the eliminative were to succeed the attractive faculty and there were not a retentive faculty between the two, there would be found, on every occasion that animals were dissected, an equal quantity of bile in the gall-bladder. This however, we do not find. For the bladder is sometimes observed to be very full, sometimes quite empty, while at other times you find in it various intermediate degrees of fulness, just as is the case with the other bladder — that which receives the urine; for even without resorting to anatomy we may observe that the urinary bladder continues to collect urine up to the time that it becomes uncomfortable through the increasing quantity of urine or the irritation caused by its acidity — the presumption thus being that here, too, there is a retentive faculty. Similarly, too, the stomach, when, as often happens, it is irritated by acidity, gets rid of the food, although still undigested, earlier than proper; or again, when oppressed by the quantity of its contents, or disordered from the co-existence of both conditions, it is seized with diarrhoea. Vomiting also is an affection of the upper [part of the] stomach analogous to diarrhoea, and it occurs when the stomach is overloaded or is unable to stand the quality of the food or surplus substances which it contains. Thus, when such a condition develops in the lower parts of the stomach, while the parts about the inlet are normal, it ends in diarrhoea, whereas if this condition is in the upper stomach, the lower parts being normal, it ends in vomiting.
5. ἅπαντʼ οὖν ἀλλήλοις ὁμολογεῖ ταῦτα καὶ τῇ γαστρὶ καὶ ταῖς ὑστέραις καὶ ταῖς κύστεσιν εἶναί τινας ἐμφύτους δυνάμεις καθεκτικὰς μὲν τῶν οἰκείων ποιοτήτων, ἀποκριτικὰς δὲ τῶν ἀλλοτρίων. ὅτι μὲν γὰρ ἕλκει τὴν χολὴν εἰς ἑαυτὴν ἡ ἐπὶ τῷ ἥπατι κύστις, ἔμπροσθεν δέδεικται, ὅτι δὲ καὶ ἀποκρίνει καθʼ ἑκάστην ἡμέραν εἰς τὴν γαστέρα, καὶ τοῦτʼ ἐναργῶς φαίνεται. καὶ μὴν εἰ διεδέχετο τὴν ἑλκτικὴν δύναμιν ἡ ἐκκριτικὴ καὶ μὴ μέση τις ἀμφοῖν ἦν ἡ καθεκτική, διὰ παντὸς ἐχρῆν ἀνατεμνομένων τῶν ζῴων ἴσον πλῆθος χολῆς εὑρίσκεσθαι κατὰ τὴν κύστιν· οὐ μὴν εὑρίσκεταί γε. ποτὲ μὲν γὰρ πληρεστάτη, ποτὲ δὲ κενοτάτη, ποτὲ δὲ τὰς ἐν τῷ μεταξὺ διαφορὰς ἔχουσα θεωρεῖται, καθάπερ καὶ ἡ ἑτέρα κύστις ἡ τὸ οὖρον ὑποδεχομένη. ταύτης μέν γε καὶ πρὸ τῆς ἀνατομῆς αἰσθανόμεθα, πρὶν ἀνιαθῆναι τῷ πλήθει βαρυνθεῖσαν ἢ τῇ δριμύτητι δηχθεῖσαν, ἀθροιζούσης ἔτι τὸ οὖρον, ὡς οὔσης τινὸς κἀνταῦθα δυνάμεως καθεκτικῆς. οὕτω δὲ καὶ ἡ γαστὴρ ὑπὸ δριμύτητος πολλάκις δηχθεῖσα πρωιαίτερον τοῦ δέοντος ἄπεπτον ἔτι τὴν τροφὴν ἀποτρίβεται. αὖθις δʼ ἄν ποτε τῷ πλήθει βαρυνθεῖσα ἢ καὶ κατʼ ἄμφω συνελθόντα κακῶς διατεθεῖσα διαρροίαις ἑάλω. καὶ μέν γε καὶ οἱ ἔμετοι, τῷ πλήθει βαρυνθείσης αὐτῆς ἢ τὴν ποιότητα τῶν ἐν αὐτῇ σιτίων τε καὶ περιττωμάτων μὴ φερούσης, ἀνάλογόν τι ταῖς διαρροίαις πάθημα τῆς ἄνω γαστρός ἐστιν. ὅταν μὲν γὰρ ἐν τοῖς κάτω μέρεσιν αὐτῆς ἡ τοιαύτη γένηται διάθεσις, ἐρρωμένων τῶν κατὰ τὸν στόμαχον, εἰς διαρροίας ἐτελεύτησεν, ὅταν δʼ ἐν τοῖς κατὰ τὸ στόμα, τῶν ἄλλων εὐρωστούντων, εἰς ἐμέτους.
6. This may often be clearly in those who are disinclined for food; when obliged to eat, they have not the strength to swallow, and, even if they force themselves to do so, they cannot retain the food, but at vomit it up. And those especially who have a dislike to some particular kind of food, sometimes take it under compulsion, and then promptly bring it up; or, if they force themselves to keep it down, they are nauseated and feel their stomach turned up, and endeavouring to relieve itself of its discomfort. Thus, as was said at the beginning, all the observed facts testify that there must exist in almost all parts of the animal a certain inclination towards, or, so to speak, an appetite for their own special quality, and an aversion to, or, as it were, a hatred of the foreign quality. And it is natural that when they feel an inclination they should attract, and that when they feel aversion they should expel. From these facts, then, again, both the attractive and the propulsive faculties have been demonstrated to exist in everything. But if there be an inclination or attraction, there will also be some benefit derived; for no existing thing attracts anything else for the mere sake of attracting, but in order to benefit by what is acquired by the attraction. And of course it cannot benefit by it if it cannot retain it. Herein, then, again, the retentive faculty is shown to have its necessary origin: for the stomach obviously inclines towards its own proper qualities and turns away from those that are foreign to it.
6. ἔνεστι δὲ καὶ τοῦτο πολλάκις ἐναργῶς ἰδεῖν ἐπὶ τῶν ἀποσίτων· ἀναγκαζόμενοι γὰρ ἐσθίειν οὔτε καταπίνειν εὐσθενοῦσιν οὔτʼ, εἰ καὶ βιάσαιντο, κατέχουσιν, ἀλλʼ εὐθὺς ἀνεμοῦσι. καὶ οἱ ἄλλως δὲ τῶν ἐδεσμάτων πρὸς ὁτιοῦν δυσχεραίνοντες βιασθέντες ἐνίοτε προσάρασθαι ταχέως ἐξεμοῦσιν, ἢ εἰ κατάσχοιεν βιασάμενοι, ναυτιώδεις τʼ εἰσὶ καὶ τῆς γαστρὸς ὑπτίας αἰσθάνονται καὶ σπευδούσης ἀποθέσθαι τὸ λυποῦν. οὕτως ἐξ ἁπάντων τῶν φαινομένων, ὅπερ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐρρέθη, μαρτυρεῖται τὸ δεῖν ὑπάρχειν τοῖς τοῦ ζῴου μορίοις σχεδὸν ἅπασιν ἔφεσιν μέν τινα καὶ οἷον ὄρεξιν τῆς οἰκείας ποιότητος, ἀποστροφὴν δέ τινα καὶ οἷον μῖσός τι τῆς ἀλλοτρίας. ἀλλʼ ἐφιέμενα μὲν ἕλκειν εὔλογον, ἀποστρεφόμενα δʼ ἐκκρίνειν. κἀκ τούτων πάλιν ἥ θʼ ἑλκτικὴ δύναμις ἀποδείκνυται καθʼ ἅπαν ὑπάρχουσα καὶ ἡ προωστική. ἀλλʼ εἴπερ ἔφεσίς τέ τίς ἐστι καὶ ἕλξις, εἴη ἄν τις καὶ ἀπόλαυσις· οὐδὲν γὰρ τῶν ὄντων ἕλκει τι διʼ αὐτὸ τὸ ἕλκειν, ἀλλʼ ἵνʼ ἀπολαύσῃ τοῦ διὰ τῆς ὁλκῆς εὐπορηθέντος. καὶ μὴν ἀπολαύειν οὐ δύναται μὴ κατασχόν. κἀν τούτῳ πάλιν ἡ καθεκτικὴ δύναμις ἀποδείκνυται τὴν γένεσιν ἀναγκαίαν ἔχουσα· σαφῶς γὰρ ἐφίεται μὲν τῶν οἰκείων ποιοτήτων ἡ γαστήρ, ἀποστρέφεται δὲ τὰς ἀλλοτρίας. ἀλλʼ εἴπερ ἐφίεταί τε καὶ ἕλκει καὶ ἀπολαύει κατέχουσα καὶ περιστελλομένη, εἴη ἄν τι καὶ πέρας αὐτῇ τῆς ἀπολαύσεως κἀπὶ τῷδʼ ὁ καιρὸς ἤδη τῆς ἐκκριτικῆς δυνάμεως ἐνεργούσης.
7. But if the stomach both retains and benefits by its food, then it employs it for the end for which it [the stomach] naturally exists. And it exists to partake of that which is of a quality befitting and proper to it. Thus it attracts all the most useful parts of the food in a vaporous and finely divided condition, storing this up in its own coats, and applying it to them. And when it is sufficiently full it puts away from it, as one might something troublesome, the rest of the food, this having itself meanwhile obtained some profit from its association with the stomach. For it is impossible for two bodies which are adapted for acting and being acted upon to come together without either both acting or being acted upon, or else one acting and the other being acted upon. For if their forces are equal they will act and be acted upon equally, and if the one be much superior in strength, it will exert its activity upon its passive neighbour; thus, while producing a great and appreciable effect, it will itself be acted upon either little or not at all. But it is herein also that the main difference lies between nourishing food and a deleterious drug; the latter masters the forces of the body, whereas the former is mastered by them.
7. ἀλλʼ εἰ καὶ κατέχει καὶ ἀπολαύει, καταχρῆται πρὸς ὃ πέφυκε. πέφυκε δὲ τοῦ προσήκοντος ἑαυτῇ κατὰ ποιότητα καὶ οἰκείου μεταλαμβάνειν· ὥσθʼ ἕλκει τῶν σιτίων ὅσον χρηστότατον ἀτμωδῶς τε καὶ κατὰ βραχὺ καὶ τοῦτο τοῖς ἑαυτῆς χιτῶσιν ἐναποτίθεταί τε καὶ προστίθησιν. ὅταν δʼ ἱκανῶς ἐμπλησθῇ, καθάπερ ἄχθος τι τὴν λοιπὴν ἀποτίθεται τροφὴν ἐσχηκυῖάν τι χρηστὸν ἤδη καὶ αὐτὴν ἐκ τῆς πρὸς τὴν γαστέρα κοινωνίας· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐνδέχεται δύο σώματα δρᾶν καὶ πάσχειν ἐπιτήδεια συνελθόντα μὴ οὐκ ἤτοι πάσχειν θʼ ἅμα καὶ δρᾶν ἢ θάτερον μὲν δρᾶν, θάτερον δὲ πάσχειν. ἐὰν μὲν γὰρ ἰσάζῃ ταῖς δυνάμεσιν, ἐξ ἴσου δράσει τε καὶ πείσεται, ἂν δʼ ὑπερέχῃ πολὺ καὶ κρατῇ θάτερον, ἐνεργήσει περὶ τὸ πάσχον· ὥστε δράσει μέγα μέν τι καὶ αἰσθητόν, αὐτὸ δʼ ἤτοι σμικρόν τι καὶ οὐκ αἰσθητὸν ἢ παντάπασιν οὐδὲν πείσεται. ἀλλʼ ἐν τούτῳ δὴ καὶ μάλιστα διήνεγκε φαρμάκου δηλητηρίου τροφή· τὸ μὲν γὰρ κρατεῖ τῆς ἐν τῷ σώματι δυνάμεως, ἡ δὲ κρατεῖται.
There cannot, then, be food which is suited for the animal which is not also correspondingly subdued by the qualities existing in the animal. And to be subdued means to undergo alteration. Now, some parts are stronger in power and others weaker; therefore, while all will subdue the nutriment which is proper to the animal, they will not all do so equally. Thus the stomach will subdue and alter its food, but not to the same extent as will the liver, veins, arteries, and heart.
οὔκουν ἐνδέχεται τροφὴν μὲν εἶναί τι τῷ ζῴῳ προσήκουσαν, οὐ μὴν καὶ κρατεῖσθαί γʼ ὁμοίως πρὸς τῶν ἐν τῷ ζῴῳ ποιοτήτων· τὸ κρατεῖσθαι δʼ ἦν ἀλλοιοῦσθαι. ἀλλʼ ἐπεὶ τὰ μὲν ἰσχυρότερα ταῖς δυνάμεσίν ἐστι μόρια, τὰ δʼ ἀσθενέστερα, κρατήσει μὲν πάντα τῆς οἰκείας τῷ ζῴῳ τροφῆς, οὐχ ὁμοίως δὲ πάντα· κρατήσει δʼ ἄρα καὶ ἡ γαστὴρ καὶ ἀλλοιώσει μὲν τὴν τροφήν, οὐ μὴν ὁμοίως ἥπατι καὶ φλεψὶ καὶ ἀρτηρίαις καὶ καρδίᾳ.
We must therefore observe to what extent it does alter it. The alteration is more than that which occurs in the mouth, but less than that in the liver and veins. For the latter alteration changes the nutriment into the substance of blood, whereas that in the mouth obviously changes it into a new form, but certainly does not completely transmute it. This you may discover in the food which is left in the intervals between the teeth, and which remains there all night; the bread is not exactly bread, nor the meat meat, for they have a smell similar to that of the animal's mouth, and have been disintegrated and dissolved, and have had the qualities of the animal's flesh impressed upon them. And you may observe the extent of the alteration which occurs to food in the mouth if you will chew some corn and then apply it to an unripe [undigested] boil: you will see it rapidly transmuting — in fact entirely digesting — the boil, though it cannot do anything of the kind if you mix it with water. And do not let this surprise you; this phlegm [saliva] in the mouth is also a cure for lichens; it even rapidly destroys scorpions; while, as regards the animals which emit venom, some it kills at once, and others after an interval; to all of them in any case it does great damage. Now, the masticated food is all, firstly, soaked in and mixed up with this phlegm; and secondly, it is brought into contact with the actual skin of the mouth; thus it undergoes more change than the food which is wedged into the vacant spaces between the teeth.
πόσον οὖν ἐστιν, ὃ ἀλλοιοῖ, καὶ δὴ θεασώμεθα· πλέον μὲν ἢ κατὰ τὸ στόμα, μεῖον δʼ ἢ κατὰ τὸ ἧπάρ τε καὶ τὰς φλέβας. αὕτη μὲν γὰρ ἡ ἀλλοίωσις εἰς αἵματος οὐσίαν ἄγει τὴν τροφήν, ἡ δʼ ἐν τῷ στόματι μεθίστησι μὲν αὐτὴν ἐναργῶς εἰς ἕτερον εἶδος, οὐ μὴν εἰς τέλος γε μετακοσμεῖ. μάθοις δʼ ἂν ἐπὶ τῶν ἐγκαταλειφθέντων ταῖς διαστάσεσι τῶν ὀδόντων σιτίων καὶ καταμεινάντων διʼ ὅλης νυκτός· οὔτε γὰρ ἄρτος ἀκριβῶς ὁ ἄρτος οὔτε κρέας ἐστὶ τὸ κρέας, ἀλλʼ ὄζει μὲν τοιοῦτον, οἷόνπερ καὶ τοῦ ζῴου τὸ στόμα, διαλέλυται δὲ καὶ διατέτηκε καὶ τὰς ἐν τῷ ζῴῳ τῆς σαρκὸς ἀπομέμακται ποιότητας. ἔνεστι δέ σοι θεάσασθαι τὸ μέγεθος τῆς ἐν τῷ στόματι τῶν σιτίων ἀλλοιώσεως, εἰ πυροὺς μασησάμενος ἐπιθείης ἀπέπτοις δοθιῆσιν· ὄψει γὰρ αὐτοὺς τάχιστα μεταβάλλοντάς τε καὶ συμπέττοντας, οὐδὲν τοιοῦτον, ὅταν ὕδατι φυραθῶσιν, ἐργάσασθαι δυναμένους. καὶ μὴ θαυμάσῃς· τὸ γάρ τοι φλέγμα τουτὶ τὸ κατὰ τὸ στόμα καὶ λειχήνων ἐστὶν ἄκος καὶ σκορπίους ἀναιρεῖ παραχρῆμα καὶ πολλὰ τῶν ἰοβόλων θηρίων τὰ μὲν εὐθέως ἀποκτείνει, τὰ δʼ ἐς ὕστερον· ἅπαντα γοῦν βλάπτει μεγάλως. ἀλλὰ τὰ μεμασημένα σιτία πρῶτον μὲν τούτῳ τῷ φλέγματι βέβρεκταί τε καὶ πεφύραται, δεύτερον δὲ καὶ τῷ χρωτὶ τοῦ στόματος ἅπαντα πεπλησίακεν, ὥστε πλείονα μεταβολὴν εἴληφε τῶν ἐν ταῖς κεναῖς χώραις τῶν ὀδόντων ἐσφηνωμένων.
But just as masticated food is more altered than the latter kind, so is food which has been swallowed more altered than that which has been merely masticated. Indeed, there is no comparison between these two processes; we have only to consider what the stomach contains — phlegm, bile, pneuma, [innate] heat, and, indeed the whole substance of the stomach. And if one considers along with this the adjacent viscera like a lot of burning hearths around a great cauldron — to the right the liver, to the left the spleen, the heart above, and along with it the diaphragm (suspended and in a state of constant movement), and the omentum sheltering them all — you may believe what an extraordinary alteration it is which occurs in the food taken into the stomach.
ἀλλʼ ὅσον τὰ μεμασημένα τούτων ἐπὶ πλέον ἠλλοίωται, τοσοῦτον ἐκείνων τὰ καταποθέντα. μὴ γὰρ οὐδὲ παραβλητὸν ᾖ τὸ τῆς ὑπερβολῆς, εἰ τὸ κατὰ τὴν κοιλίαν ἐννοήσαιμεν φλέγμα καὶ χολὴν καὶ πνεῦμα καὶ θερμασίαν καὶ ὅλην τὴν οὐσίαν τῆς γαστρός. εἰ δὲ καὶ συνεπινοήσαις αὐτῇ τὰ παρακείμενα σπλάγχνα καθάπερ τινὶ λέβητι μεγάλῳ πυρὸς ἑστίας πολλάς, ἐκ δεξιῶν μὲν τὸ ἧπαρ, ἐξ ἀριστερῶν δὲ τὸν σπλῆνα, τὴν καρδίαν δʼ ἐκ τῶν ἄνω, σὺν αὐτῇ δὲ καὶ τὰς φρένας αἰωρουμένας τε καὶ διὰ παντὸς κινουμένας, ἐφʼ ἅπασι δὲ τούτοις σκέπον τὸ ἐπίπλοον, ἐξαίσιόν τινα πεισθήσῃ τὴν ἀλλοίωσιν γίγνεσθαι τῶν εἰς τὴν γαστέρα καταποθέντων σιτίων.
How could it easily become blood if it were not previously prepared by means of a change of this kind? It has already been shown that nothing is altered all at once from one quality to its opposite. How then could bread, beef, beans, or any other food turn into blood if they had not previously undergone some other alteration? And how could the faeces be generated right away in the small intestine? For what is there in this organ more potent in producing alteration than the factors in the stomach? Is it the number of the coats, or the way it is surrounded by neighbouring viscera, or the time that the food remains in it, or some kind of innate heat which it contains? Most assuredly the intestines have the advantage of the stomach in none of these respects. For what possible reason, then, will objectors have it that bread may often remain a whole night in the stomach and still preserve its original qualities, whereas when once it is projected into the intestines, it straightway becomes ordure? For, if such a long period of time is incapable of altering it, neither will the short period be sufficient, or, if the latter is enough, surely the longer time will be much more so! Well, then, can it be that, while the nutriment does undergo an alteration in the stomach, this is a different kind of alteration and one which is not dependent on the nature of the organ which alters it? Or if it be an alteration of this latter kind, yet one perhaps which is not proper to the body of the animal? This is still more impossible. Digestion was shown to be nothing else than an alteration to the quality proper to that which is receiving nourishment. Since, then, this is what digestion means and since the nutriment has been shown to take on in the stomach a quality appropriate to the animal which is about to be nourished by it, it has been demonstrated adequately that nutriment does undergo digestion in the stomach.
πῶς δʼ ἂν ἠδύνατο Ῥᾳδίως αἱματοῦσθαι μὴ προπαρασκευασθέντα τῇ τοιαύτῃ μεταβολῇ; δέδεικται γὰρ οὖν καὶ πρόσθεν, ὡς οὐδὲν εἰς τὴν ἐναντίαν ἀθρόως μεθίσταται ποιότητα. πῶς οὖν ὁ ἄρτος αἷμα γίγνεται, πῶς δὲ τὸ τεῦτλον ἢ ὁ κύαμος ἤ τι τῶν ἄλλων, εἰ μὴ πρότερόν τινʼ ἑτέραν ἀλλοίωσιν ἐδέξατο; πῶς δʼ ἡ κόπρος ἐν τοῖς λεπτοῖς ἐντέροις ἀθρόως γεννηθήσεται; τί γὰρ ἐν τούτοις σφοδρότερον εἰς ἀλλοίωσίν ἐστι τῶν κατὰ τὴν γαστέρα; ποτερα τῶν χιτώνων τὸ πλῆθος ἢ τῶν γειτνιώντων σπλάγχνων ἡ περίθεσις ἢ τῆς μονῆς ὁ χρόνος ἢ σύμφυτός τις ἐν τοῖς ὀργάνοις θερμασία; καὶ μὴν κατʼ οὐδὲν τούτων πλεονεκτεῖ τὰ ἔντερα τῆς γαστρός. τί ποτʼ οὖν ἐν μὲν τῇ γαστρὶ νυκτὸς ὅλης πολλάκις μείναντα τὸν ἄρτον ἔτι φυλάττεσθαι βούλονται τὰς ἀρχαίας διασῴζοντα ποιότητας, ἐπειδὰν δʼ ἅπαξ ἐμπέσῃ τοῖς ἐντέροις, εὐθὺς γίγνεσθαι κόπρον; εἰ μὲν γὰρ ὁ τοσοῦτος χρόνος ἀδύνατος ἀλλοιοῦν, οὐδʼ ὁ βραχὺς ἱκανός· εἰ δʼ οὗτος αὐτάρκης, πῶς οὐ πολὺ μᾶλλον ὁ μακρός; ἆρʼ οὖν ἀλλοιοῦται μὲν ἡ τροφὴ κατὰ τὴν κοιλίαν, ἄλλην δέ τινʼ ἀλλοίωσιν καὶ οὐχ οἵαν ἐκ τῆς φύσεως ἴσχει τοῦ μεταβάλλοντος ὀργάνου; ἢ ταύτην μέν, οὐ μὴν τήν γʼ οἰκείαν τῷ τοῦ ζῴου σώματι; μακρῷ τοῦτʼ ἀδυνατώτερόν ἐστι. καὶ μὴν οὐκ ἄλλο γʼ ἦν ἡ πέψις ἢ ἀλλοίωσις εἰς τὴν οἰκείαν τοῦ τρεφομένου ποιότητα.
And Asclepiades is absurd when he states that the quality of the digested food never shows itself either in eructations or in the vomited matter, or on dissection. For of course the mere fact that the food smells of the body shows that it has undergone gastric digestion. But this man is so foolish that, when he hears the Ancients saying that the food is converted in the stomach into something “good,” he thinks it proper to look out not for what is good in its possible effects, but for what is good to the taste: this is like saying that apples (for so one has to argue with him) become more apple-like [in flavour] in the stomach, or honey more honey-like!
εἴπερ οὖν ἡ πέψις τοῦτʼ ἔστι καὶ ἡ τροφὴ κατὰ τὴν γαστέρα δέδεικται δεχομένη ποιότητα τῷ μέλλοντι πρὸς αὐτῆς θρέψεσθαι ζῴῳ προσήκουσαν, ἱκανῶς ἀποδέδεικται τὸ πέττεσθαι κατὰ τὴν γαστέρα τὴν τροφήν. καὶ γελοῖος μὲν Ἀσκληπιάδης οὔτʼ ἐν ταῖς ἐρυγαῖς λέγων ἐμφαίνεσθαί ποτε τὴν ποιότητα τῶν πεφθέντων σιτίων οὔτʼ ἐν τοῖς ἐμέτοις οὔτʼ ἐν ταῖς ἀνατομαῖς· αὐτὸ γὰρ δὴ τὸ τοῦ σώματος ἐξόζειν αὐτὰ τῆς κοιλίας ἐστὶ τὸ πεπέφθαι. ὁ δʼ οὕτως ἐστὶν εὐήθης, ὥστʼ, ἐπειδὴ τῶν παλαιῶν ἀκούει λεγόντων ἐπὶ τὸ χρηστὸν ἐν τῇ γαστρὶ μεταβάλλειν τὰ σιτία, δοκιμάζει ζητεῖν οὐ τὸ κατὰ δύναμιν ἀλλὰ τὸ κατὰ γεῦσιν χρηστόν, ὥσπερ ἢ τοῦ μήλου μηλωδεστέρου--χρὴ γὰρ οὕτως αὐτῷ διαλέγεσθαι--γιγνομένου κατὰ τὴν κοιλίαν ἢ τοῦ μέλιτος μελιτωδεστέρου.
Erasistratus, however, is still more foolish and absurd, either through not perceiving in what sense the Ancients said that digestion is similar to the process of boiling, or because he purposely confused himself with sophistries. It is, he says, inconceivable that digestion, involving as it does such trifling warmth, should be related to the boiling process. This is as if we were to suppose that it was necessary to put the fires of Etna under the stomach before it could manage to alter the food; or else that, while it was capable of altering the food, it did not do this by virtue of its innate heat, which of course was moist, so that the word boil was used instead of bake.
πολὺ δʼ εὐηθέστερός ἐστι καὶ γελοιότερος ὁ Ἐρασίστρατος ἢ μὴ νοῶν, ὅπως εἴρηται πρὸς τῶν παλαιῶν ἡ πέψις ἑψήσει παραπλήσιος ὑπάρχειν, ἢ ἑκὼν σοφιζόμενος ἑαυτόν. ἑψήσει μὲν οὖν, φησίν, οὕτως ἐλαφρὰν ἔχουσαν θερμασίαν οὐκ εἰκὸς εἶναι παραπλησίαν τὴν πέψιν, ὥσπερ ἢ τὴν Αἴτνην δέον ὑποθεῖναι τῇ γαστρὶ ἢ ἄλλως αὐτῆς ἀλλοιῶσαι τὰ σιτία μὴ δυναμένης ἢ δυναμένης μὲν ἀλλοιοῦν, οὐ κατὰ τὴν ἔμφυτον δὲ θερμασίαν, ὑγρὰν οὖσαν δηλονότι καὶ διὰ τοῦθʼ ἕψειν οὐκ ὀπτᾶν εἰρημένην.
What he ought to have done, if it was facts that he wished to dispute about, was to have tried to show, first and foremost, that the food is not transmuted or altered in quality by the stomach at all, and secondly, if he could not be confident of this, he ought to have tried to show that this alteration was not of any advantage to the animal. If, again, he were unable even to make this misrepresentation, he ought to have attempted to confute the postulate concerning the active principles — to show, in fact, that the functions taking place in the various parts do not depend on the way in which the Warm, Cold, Dry, and Moist are mixed, but on some other factor. And if he had not the audacity to misrepresent facts even so far as this, still he should have tried at least to show that the Warm is not the most active of all the principles which play a part in things governed by Nature. But if he was unable to demonstrate this any more than any of the previous propositions, then he ought not to have made himself ridiculous by quarrelling uselessly with a mere name — as though Aristotle had not clearly stated in the fourth book of his “Meteorology,” as well as in many other passages, in what way digestion can be said to be allied to boiling, and also that the latter expression is not used in its primitive or strict sense.
ἐχρῆν δʼ αὐτόν, εἴπερ περὶ πραγμάτων ἀντιλέγειν ἐβούλετο, πειραθῆναι δεῖξαι μάλιστα μὲν καὶ πρῶτον, ὡς οὐδὲ μεταβάλλει τὴν ἀρχὴν οὐδʼ ἀλλοιοῦται κατὰ ποιότητα πρὸς τῆς γαστρὸς τὰ σιτία, δεύτερον δʼ, εἴπερ μὴ οἷός τʼ ἦν τοῦτο πιστώσασθαι, τὸ τὴν ἀλλοίωσιν αὐτῶν ἄχρηστον εἶναι τῷ ζῴῳ· εἰ δὲ μηδὲ τοῦτʼ εἶχε διαβάλλειν, ἐξελέγξαι τὴν περὶ τὰς δραστικὰς ἀρχὰς ὑπόληψιν καὶ δεῖξαι τὰς ἐνεργείας ἐν τοῖς μορίοις οὐ διὰ τὴν ἐκ θερμοῦ καὶ ψυχροῦ καὶ ξηροῦ καὶ ὑγροῦ ποιὰν κρᾶσιν ὑπάρχειν ἀλλὰ διʼ ἄλλο τι· εἰ δὲ μηδὲ τοῦτʼ ἐτόλμα διαβάλλειν, ἀλλʼ ὅτι γε μὴ τὸ θερμόν ἐστιν ἐν τοῖς ὑπὸ φύσεως διοικουμένοις τὸ τῶν ἄλλων δραστικώτατον. ἢ εἰ μήτε τοῦτο μήτε τῶν ἄλλων τι τῶν ἔμπροσθεν εἶχεν ἀποδεικνύναι, μὴ ληρεῖν ὀνόματι προσπαλαίοντα μάτην, ὥσπερ οὐ σαφῶς Ἀριστοτέλοὺς ἔν τʼ ἄλλοις πολλοῖς κἀν τῷ τετάρτῳ τῶν μετεωρολογικῶν ὅπως ἡ πέψις ἑψήσει παραπλήσιος εἶναι λέγεται, καὶ ὅτι μὴ πρώτως μηδὲ κυρίως ὀνομαζόντων, εἰρηκότος.