§2#3καὶ πρώτην γε πάλιν ἐξ αὐτῶν μεταχειρισόμεθα τὴν περὶ τῆς κινήσεως τῶν ἀρτηριῶν.
And we shall again treat first among them that concerning the movement of the arteries.
οἱ γάρ τοι τοῖς Ἐρασιστρατείοις ἀμφισβητοῦντες ἀλλοιοῦσθαί φασι χρῆναι τὴν κίνησιν τῶν ἀρτηριῶν παρὰ τὸν τῆς ἐπισχέσεως καιρὸν, ἄν τε κραδαίνεσθαι τὴν καρδίαν μόνον, ἄν τε καὶ καταστέλλεσθαι ὑποθῆται.
For those who dispute with the Erasistrateans say that the movement of the arteries must change during the time of holding the breath, whether one assumes that the heart only trembles, or that it also expands and contracts.
κραδαινομένης μὲν γὰρ, παντάπασιν ἀκινήτους χρὴ ἐγγίνεσθαι, μηδὲν λαμβανούσας παρ’ αὐτῆς, διαστελλομένης δὲ καὶ συστελλομένης, διπλοῦν φαίνεσθαι δεῖ τὸν σφυγμόν.
For if it trembles, the arteries must become altogether motionless, receiving nothing from it; but if it expands and contracts, the pulse must appear double.
ἐν μὲν γὰρ δὴ τῷ κατὰ φύσιν ἔχειν τὸ ζῶον συστελλομένη μὲν τὸ πνεῦμα ταῖς ἀρτηρίαις ἔπεμπεν, αἱ δὲ πληρούμεναι διεστέλλοντο· διαστελλομένη δὲ ἥδ’ εἷλκεν ἐκ τοῦ πνεύματος, αἱ δὲ τηνικαῦτα κενούμεναι συνεστέλλοντο.
For when the animal is in a natural state, the heart, contracting, sent the pneuma to the arteries, and they, being filled, expanded; but when it expanded, it drew from the lung, and the arteries, being emptied at that time, contracted.
κατὰ δὲ τὸν ἐπισχέσεως καιρὸν, ἐπειδὴ διαστελλομένη παρὰ τῶν ἀρτηριῶν ἕλκει, παντί που δῆλον, ὅτι παλινδρομήσει τὸ δι’ αὐτῶν πρότερον ἐκ τῆς καρδίας ἐνηνεγμένον πνεῦμα.
But during the time of holding the breath, since the heart, expanding, draws from the arteries, it is clear to everyone that the pneuma previously carried through them from the heart will run backward.
καὶ οὕτως, εἰ μὲν ἴσον εἴη τῷ πρόσθεν, ἴσην καὶ ποιήσεται τὴν διαστολὴν ἀρτηριῶν, εἰ δὲ μεῖον, ἐλάττονα πάντως ἢ πρόσθεν ποιήσεται διαστολὴν, καὶ αὐτὴν δηλονότι κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν ἐκεῖνον ποιήσεται, καθ’ ὃν συνεστέλλετο πρότερον.
And thus, if it should be equal to before, it will make the expansion of the arteries equal; but if less, it will make the expansion altogether smaller than before, and it will obviously make this expansion at that very time in which they previously contracted.
τοῦτο δὲ οὐδέν ἐστιν ἄλλο, ἢ διπλασιασθῆναι τὰς κινήσεις τῶν ἀρτηριῶν.
And this is nothing other than a doubling of the movements of the arteries.
οὐ μὴν φαίνεται οὕτως γινόμενον· ᾧ δῆλον, ὅτι ψευδεῖς αἱ ὑποθέσεις εἰσίν.
Yet indeed it is not seen to happen in this way; by which it is clear that the hypotheses are false.
ἔτι δὲ καὶ τοῦτο ἐπανερωτῶσιν, εἰ μηδὲν ἐκ τῶν ἀρτηριῶν κενοῦται περὶ τὸν τῆς ἐπισχέσεως καιρόν.
Moreover, they also ask this further question, whether nothing is emptied from the arteries during the time of holding the breath.
ἔμπροσθεν μὲν γὰρ, ἡνίκα ἔπνει κατὰ φύσιν τὸ ζῶον, αὐτὸς ὁ Ἐρασίστρατος οἴεται πᾶν ἐκκενοῦσθαι τὸ παρὰ τῆς καρδίας ἐκπεμπόμενον αὐταῖς.
For previously, when the animal was breathing naturally, Erasistratus himself thinks that everything sent to them by the heart was emptied.
δῆλον ὡς ἐκτὸς τοῦ σώματος ἐκρίνετο, ἤ πως ἄλλως ἐκενοῦτο.
It is clear that it was excreted outside the body, or was emptied in some other way.
νυνὶ δὲ τί ποτε φήσουσιν;
But now what will they say?
ἆρα διεξέρχεσθαι μὲν οὕτως ὠκέως αὐτὸν διὰ τῶν ἀρτηριῶν, ὥσπερ καὶ πρόσθεν, οὖ μὴν ἐκκενοῦσθαι τὸ βραχύτατον αὐτοῦ;
Is it that the air passes through the arteries as quickly as before, yet not the least part of it is emptied?
καὶ πῶς ἐνδέχεται;
And how is that possible?
ἀλλὰ κενοῦσθαι μὲν, οὐ μὴν ἕλκεσθαι αὖθις ἐκ τοῦ περιέχοντος, ὅταν ἡ καρδία παρὰ τῶν ἀρτηριῶν ἀνέλκῃ διαστελλομένη;
Or is it emptied, but not drawn in again from the surrounding air, when the heart, expanding, draws back from the arteries?
οὐδὲ τοῦτο εἰπεῖν ἐγχωρεῖ.
Not even this is possible to say.
καὶ μὴν, εἴπερ ὅλως ἐστὶν ἀδύνατον ἐν τῷ διαστέλλεσθαι τὴν καρδίαν ἕλκεσθαί τι παρὰ τῶν ἀρτηριῶν ἔξωθεν, ἐκ τοῦ περιττοῦ θώραξ καὶ πνεύμων ἐγένετο.
And indeed, if it is altogether impossible for anything to be drawn from the arteries from the outside when the heart expands, the thorax and lung were made in vain.
οὐδὲ γὰρ τοῦτο ἔστιν εἰπεῖν, ὡς ἔλαττον ἂν εἷλκεν ἐκ τῶν ἀρτηριῶν, ἢ τοῦ πνεύμονος, ὅπου, τῶν ὑμένων ἐπικειμένων, ἕλκειν οὐδὲν ἧττον δύναται.
For one cannot say that it would draw less from the arteries than from the lung, since, even with the membranes in place, it is able to draw no less.
δηλοῦνται δὲ ταῦτ’ ἐκ τοῦ μεγέθους τῶν σφυγμῶν.
And these things are shown from the size of the pulses.
παντί που δῆλον, ὡς πολὺ μᾶλλον εἷλκεν ἂν, εἰ μηδ’ ἐπεφύκεισαν ὑμένες ἐν τῷ στόματι τῆς μεγάλης ἀρτηρίας.
It is clear to everyone that it would draw much more if membranes had not naturally grown in the mouth of the great artery.
τὸ δ’ ὅλον, εἰ μήθ’ ἡ καρδία μήτε τις τῶν κατὰ μέρος ἀρτηριῶν ἀποροίη πνεύματος, ἐν ταῖς τῆς ἀναπνοῆς ἐπισχέσεσιν, ὡς δηλοῦσιν αὐτῶν αἱ διαστολαὶ, τὸν ἴσον ὄγκον τὸν πρόσθεν διασώζουσαι, τὸ πνίγεσθαι δὲ δέχεται σαφῶς, δηλοῦν, ὡς οὐχὶ τῆς οὐσίας αὐτῆς τοῦ ἀέρος ἔνδεια πνίγει τὰ ζῶα.
In short, if neither the heart nor any of the individual arteries should lack pneuma during the holdings of breath, as their expansions show by preserving the same volume as before, yet suffocation is clearly admitted, it clearly shows that it is not a lack of the substance of the air itself that suffocates animals.
δήλη μὲν ἤδη καὶ ἡ Ἀσκληπιάδειος ἐξηλεγμένη δόξα μετὰ τῆς Ἐρασιστράτου.
It is clear now that the opinion of Asclepiades also has been refuted along with that of Erasistratus.
δήλη τε καὶ ἡ Πραξαγόρου, καὶ Φιλοτίμου, καὶ εἴ τις ἕτερος ἕνεκα θρέψεως μόνης τοῦ ψυχικοῦ πνεύματος ἀναπνεῖν ἡμᾶς φησι.
And clear too is that of Praxagoras, of Philotimus, and of anyone else who says we breathe only for the sake of nourishment of the psychic pneuma.
πρόσκειται δ’ ἐν τῷ λόγῳ τὸ, μόνης, εὐλόγως.
The word 'only' is reasonably added in the argument.
οὐδὲ γὰρ, ὡς μὴ ἐνδέχεται τρέφεσθαι τὸ ψυχικὸν πνεῦμα πρὸς τῆς ἀναπνοῆς, ἀπέδειξεν ὁ λόγος, ἀλλ’ ὡς τὸ πνίγεσθαι τοῖς ζώοις, ἐπεχομένης τῆς ἀναπνοῆς, οὐ διὰ τὴν ἀτροφίαν τοῦ ψυχικοῦ πνεύματος γίνεται.
For the argument did not prove that the psychic pneuma cannot be nourished by respiration, but that the suffocation of animals when respiration is held does not occur because of the lack of nourishment of the psychic pneuma.
πάρεστι γὰρ αὐτοῖς δαψιλὲς ἐν τῷ πνεύμονι τὸ πνεῦμα, καὶ ἄλλως χρόνου μικροτέρου δεῖται τὸ δι’ ἔνδειαν τοῦ τρέφοντος πνεύματος ἀπόλλυσθαι μέλλον.
For they have abundant pneuma in the lung, and otherwise, that which is about to perish through lack of the nourishing pneuma needs a shorter time.
Ἀσκληπιάδῃ δὲ οὐδὲ ταῦτα μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ δι’ ἑτέρων ἡμῖν εἰρημένα πρὸς τοὺς περὶ ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ λόγους μάχεται.
And for Asclepiades, not only these things but also what has been said by us in other places fight against his arguments concerning the soul.
δείκνυται γὰρ ἐν ἐκείνοις, ὡς ἡ τῆς ψυχῆς οὐσία, κᾂν μὴ μία ᾖ, διὰ παντὸς τοῦ βίου μέχρι χρόνου συχνοῦ διαμένει· κατὰ δὲ τὸν Ἀσκληπιάδην οὐδὲ ἀριθμῆσαι δυνατὸν, ὅσας ἔχει.
For it is shown in those places that the substance of the soul, even if it is not one, remains throughout the whole of life for a considerable time; but according to Asclepiades, it is not even possible to count how many souls one has.
κᾂν μὲν γὰρ ὀλίγον πρόσθεν οὖσα νῦν οἴχεται τελέως, ἄλλη δ’ ἔστιν ἡ νῦν οὖσα, μικρὸν δ’ ὕστερον οἰχήσεται μὲν αὕτη, γενήσεται δ’ ἑτέρα. ὃ ὡς ἔστιν ἀδύνατον καὶ ἄτοπον, δι’ ἐκείνων ἀποδέδεικται.
For if that which existed a little before is now completely gone, and that which exists now is another, and a little later this one will be gone and another will come into being, which is impossible and absurd, has been demonstrated in those works.