§8Ἔχουσι δὲ οὐδὲ τῷ πάχει τῆς μήτρας οἱ χιτῶνες ὡσαύτως ἀεὶ, ἀλλ’ εἰς μὲν τὴν πρώτην ἡλικίαν, ὥσπερ μικροὶ, οὕτω καὶ λεπτοί εἰσιν· ἰόντων δὲ ἤδη τῶν ἐπιμηνίων, πρὸς λόγον τοῦ μεγέθους καὶ τὸ πάχος αὔξονται, καὶ ἢν ἔξωρος τοῦ κύειν τε καὶ καθαίρεσθαι ἡ γυνὴ γίνηται, ὥσπερ τὸ μέγεθος, οὕτω καὶ τὸ πάχος μειοῦται.
And the tunics do not always have the same thickness in the uterus, but in the first age, just as they are small, so they are also thin; and when the menses are already beginning, they increase in thickness in proportion to the size, and if the woman becomes past the age of childbearing and purging, just as the size decreases, so also the thickness decreases.
κατὰ μὲν τὰς ἡλικίας ᾧδ’ ἔχουσιν.
Concerning ages, they are thus.
κατὰ δὲ τὰς περιστάσεις, ὅσα μὲν αἱ τόσοι πεφύκασιν ἀλλοιῶσαι κατὰ τὴν μήτραν, τὸ νῦν οὐ πρόκειται λέγειν· ὅσα δὲ ἐν τῷ κατὰ φύσιν αἱ περιστάσεις αὐτὴν ἀλλάττουσιν, ταῦτα ἐροῦμεν.
But concerning circumstances, how many of them are naturally disposed to alter the uterus, it is not our present purpose to say; but how many of them, in the natural state, alter it, these we shall tell.
παχεῖα μὲν καὶ εὔογκος καὶ διῳδηκυῖα φαίνεται, ὅταν αὐτὴ ἡ κάθαρσις ἡ τῶν καταμηνίων συνδιδῶται· διαβρέχεται γὰρ τηνικαῦτα τῇ νοτίδι τῇ ἀπὸ τοῦ αἵματος· λεπτὴ δὲ καὶ ξηρὰ ἡ ποῤῥωτάτω τούτου τοῦ χρόνου·
It appears thick and swollen and turgid when the purging of the menses itself is about to occur; for at that time it is soaked with the moisture from the blood; but it is thin and dry at the time furthest from this.
παχυτέρα δὲ καὶ τῇ κυησάσῃ, καὶ ἥτις πλεῖστα ἐκύησε, ταύτῃ παχίστη.
And it is thicker in one who has been pregnant, and thickest in her who has been pregnant most times.
πάλιν οὖν ἀρχομένης μὲν κύειν παχεῖα, ἐγγὺς δὲ τοῦ ἀποκυΐσκειν γενομένης μεγάλη μὲν, λεπτὴ δὲ, τὸ γὰρ πάχος εἰς τὸ μῆκος ἐκτεινόμενον ἀναλίσκεται, ἐν δὲ τῷ μεταξὺ χρόνῳ ἀνάλογον τοῦ μεγέθους τὸ πλάτος.
Again, therefore, at the beginning of pregnancy it is thick, but when she gets near to giving birth, it is large but thin, for the thickness is consumed by being extended into the length, and in the intervening time the width is in proportion to the size.
§9Οἱ δὲ ὄρχεις τοῦ θήλεος κεῖνται μὲν ἐκ πλαγίων τῆς μήτρας, εἷς ἑκατέρωθεν τοῦ πυθμένος, ἐγγὺς τῶν κεραιῶν, μεγέθει γε πολὺ μείους, ἢ τοῦ ἄῤῥενος, καὶ τῷ σχήματι δὲ καὶ τῷ συγκρίματι πάμπολυ διαφέρουσι.
And the female testes lie on the sides of the uterus, one on each side of the bottom, near the horns, much smaller indeed in size than those of the male, and they differ very much in shape and composition.
πλατεῖς μὲν γὰρ οὗτοι, στρογγύλοι δὲ καὶ προμήκεις ἐκεῖνοι· καὶ ἀδενοειδεῖς μὲν οὗτοι, ἁπαλόσαρκοι δὲ οἱ τοῦ ἄῤῥενος.
For these are flat, but those are round and elongated; and these are adenoid, but those of the male are soft-fleshed.
περιέχει δὲ τούτων ἑκάτερον ὑμὴν ἴδιος λεπτὸς, οἷος ἐπὶ τῶν ἀῤῥένων, ὁ δαρτός· ἐρυθροειδῆ δὲ καὶ ὄσχεον οἱ τοῦ θήλεος ὄρχεις οὐκ ἔχουσι.
And a thin proper membrane, such as the dartos in males, surrounds each of them; but the female testes do not have the erythroid membrane and the scrotum.
καὶ μὴν καὶ ἀρτηρίαι καὶ φλέβες τοῖς ὄρχεσιν ἐμφύονται ἀπὸ τῶν εἰς τὴν μήτραν ἰουσῶν, εἰς ἑκάτερον μία.
Indeed, arteries and veins also grow into the testes from those going to the uterus, one of each to each.
συμμίξαντα δὲ ἀλλήλοις ταῦτα τὰ ἀγγεῖα, πρὶν εἰς τὸν δίδυμον ἐμφυῆναι, καὶ βοστρυχοειδῶς ἑλίσσεται, οὐδέν τι ἀλλοιότερον ἢ ἐπὶ τῶν ἀῤῥένων, ὥστε, εἰ τέμοις τὴν ἕλικα, πολλά σοι ἡ μία τομὴ στόματα ποιήσει, οὐχ ὅτι πολλὰ ἀγγεῖα ἔτεμες, ἀλλ’ ὅτι τὸ ἓν πολλάκις.
And these vessels, having mingled with each other before growing into the testis, wind in a tendril-like fashion, in no way differently than in males, so that if you should cut the coil, a single cut will make many openings for you, not because you cut many vessels, but because you cut the one many times.
καὶ μὴν καὶ τὰ ἀποφυόμενα τῶν ὄρχεων ἀγγεῖα τὰ σπερματικὰ πάλιν ὁμοίως φαίνεται περιέχοντα σπέρμα, ὡς καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἀῤῥένων, ἐγγὺς μὲν αὐτῶν τῶν ὄρχεων εὐρέα τε ὄντα καὶ αἰσθητὴν ἔχοντα τὴν κοιλότητα, στενότερα δὲ καὶ οἷον ἄκοιλα γινόμενα μικρὸν ἀπωτέρω, εἶτα πάλιν εὐρυνόμενα παρὰ ταῖς κεραίαις, ἔνθα καὶ εἰς τὴν μήτραν καταφύονται.
And indeed, the seminal vessels arising from the testes again appear to contain seed in a similar way as in males, being wide and having a visible cavity near the testes themselves, but becoming narrower and as if without a cavity a little further away, then again widening near the horns, where they also grow into the uterus.
ταύτας δὲ τὰς ἐμφύσεις οὔτε Ἀριστοτέλης, οὔτε Ἡρόφιλος, οὔτε Εὐρυφῶν οἶδεν· ἐμνημόνευσα δὲ τούτων, οὐχ ὡς μόνον οὐκ εἰδότων, ἀλλ’ ὡς κάλλιστα ἀνατεμόντων.
These insertions neither Aristotle, nor Herophilus, nor Euryphon knew; and I have mentioned these men, not as being merely ignorant, but as having dissected most excellently.
Διοκλέα μὲν γὰρ καὶ Πραξαγόραν καὶ Φιλότιμον καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους παλαιοὺς ὀλίγου δεῖν ἅπαντας, οὐκ ἀπεικὸς, ὥσπερ ἄλλα πολλὰ τῶν κατὰ τὸ σῶμα, οὕτω δὴ καὶ ταῦτα ἀγνοῆσαι· ὁλοσχερέστερον γάρ πως καὶ οὐκ ἀκριβῶς περὶ τὰ ἀνατομικὰ ἔσχον· ὅθεν οὐδ’ ἐκείνων μοι μέλει.
For it is not unlikely that Diocles, Praxagoras, Philotimus, and almost all the other ancients were ignorant of these things, just as they were of many other things in the body; for they were somewhat general and not precise about anatomical matters, whence I do not even care about them.
περὶ δὲ τῶν ἀνδρῶν τούτων οὐκ ἔχω τί φῶ, οὔτε γὰρ καταγινώσκειν τούτων τολμῶ διὰ τὴν ἐν τοῖς ἄλλοις ἀκρίβειαν, οὔτε μικρὰ οὕτως ἐστὶ τὰ ἀγγεῖα, ὥστε ἄν τινα λαθεῖν.
But concerning these men, I do not know what to say, for I do not dare to condemn them because of their precision in other matters, nor are the vessels so small that they could escape anyone's notice.
ἀλλά περὶ μὲν τῶν εἰς τράχηλον τῆς κύστεως ἐμφυομένων ἀκριβῶς εἴρηται αὐτοῖς, ὅτι τε εἰς τὸν αὐτὸν τόπον ἐμβάλλει, εἰς ὃν καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἀῤῥένων, καὶ ὅτι ἀδενοειδῆ εἰσι τὰ ἀγγεῖα ταῦτα, καὶ ὅτι ἀπὸ τῶν διδύμων ἐκτείνεται τῇ μήτρᾳ παραφυόμενα.
Yet, concerning those growing into the neck of the bladder, it has been precisely stated by them that they empty into the same place as in males, and that these vessels are adenoid, and that they extend from the testes, growing alongside the uterus.
περὶ δὲ τῶν κατὰ τὰς κεραίας οὐδὲν εἰρήκασι, καίτοι καὶ ταῦτα πόροις τε αἰσθητοῖς ἐμβέβληκεν, ὥσπερ ἐκεῖνα εἰς τὸν τράχηλον, καὶ γονὴν ἐντὸς αὑτῶν ἔχοντα φαίνεται.
But concerning those at the horns they have said nothing, although these too empty with visible passages, just as those into the neck do, and appear to have seed within themselves.
ἐπὶ πλέον δὲ περὶ αὐτῶν ἐν τῷ ἑξῆς λόγῳ τῷ περὶ τῶν ἐνεργειῶν σκεψόμεθα.
But we shall examine them further in the next discourse, the one concerning functions.