§4#1Πᾶσαν τοίνυν αὐτὴν ἀναλαβόντες βασανίσωμεν, ἐπεὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἀληθεστέρα φαίνεται.
Therefore, taking it up again, let us examine it in its entirety, since it seems more true than the others.
οὐκοῦν ἔκ τε τοῦ ῥιπίζεσθαι τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς ἐμφύτου θερμασίας, κᾀκ τοῦ συμμέτρως ἐμψύχεσθαι, κᾀκ τοῦ τὸ οἷον καπνῶδες αὐτῆς ἅπαν ἀποῤῥεῖν, ἓν ἀθροίζεται κεφάλαιον, ἡ σωτηρία τῆς κατὰ φύσιν θερμασίας.
Therefore, from the fanning of the principle of the innate heat, and from its being moderately cooled, and from all its soot-like waste flowing away, one main point is gathered: the preservation of the natural heat.
εἰς ταύτας οὖν τὰς ἀρχὰς ἴδωμεν εἰ δυνατὸν ἀναγαγεῖν τὰ κατὰ μέρος ἅπαντα.
Let us see, then, if it is possible to refer all the particular cases to these principles.
καὶ πρότερον προχειρισθήτω τὸ κατὰ τὰ βαλανεῖα συμβαῖνον, ἐν οἷς ἐπὶ πλέον διατρίψαντες ἐκλυόμεθα, τελευτῶντες δὲ καὶ ἀποθνήσκομεν.
And first, let what happens in baths be taken in hand, in which, when we spend too much time, we are weakened, and in the end we even die.
εἰ γὰρ, διότι θερμὸν ἀναπνέομεν, ἐχρῆν, φασὶ, καὶ τοὺς ὑπὲρ λέβητος ὕδατος θερμοῦ στάντας, εἶτα ἀναπνέοντας τὸν ἀναφερόμενον ἀτμὸν, ὁμοίως ἀδικεῖσθαι· οὐ μὴν φαίνεσθαι ἀδικουμένους· ᾧ δῆλον, ὅτι μὴ διὰ τὴν ἀναπνεομένην θερμασίαν, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὴν ἐξ ὅλου τοῦ σώματος κένωσιν τοῦ πνεύματος ἐν τοῖς βαλανείοις ἐκλυόμεθα.
For if, as they say, because we breathe hot air, those who stand over a kettle of hot water and then breathe in the rising steam ought to be similarly harmed; yet they do not appear to be harmed; by which it is clear that we are weakened in the baths not because of the breathed-in heat, but because of the evacuation of the pneuma from the whole body.
πῶς οὖν καὶ ταύτην τὴν ἀμφισβήτησιν διαλύσομεν;
How then shall we resolve this dispute as well?
ἢν τὸ μὲν συνημμένον ἀληθὲς εἶναι φήσωμεν, ὅτι δεῖ πνίγεσθαι τοὺς τὸν ἐκ λέβητος ἀτμὸν εἰσπνέοντας, εἴπερ ὅλως ἐμψύξεως ἕνεκεν ἀναπνεύ σαιεν, οὐ μὴν τήν γε πρόσληψιν αὐτῶν.
If we say that the conditional premise is true—namely, that those who inhale the steam from the kettle must suffocate, if indeed they breathe at all for the sake of cooling—but not their minor premise.
ἀλλὰ μὴν οὐ πνίγονται· πνίγονται γὰρ οὐδὲν ἧττον τῶν ἐν τοῖς βαλανείοις οἱ τὸν ἐκ λεβήτων ἀτμὸν ἀναπνέοντες.
But indeed, "they do not suffocate," [they say]; for those who breathe in the steam from kettles suffocate no less than those in the baths.
εἰ δὲ καὶ μὴ πνιγόμεθα, θαυμαστὸν οὐδὲν ἂν ἦν ἴσως· ἡ γὰρ καθ’ ὅλον τὸ σῶμα διαπνοὴ κατὰ τὰ βαλανεῖα τῇ διὰ τοῦ στόματος ὁμοίως βέβλαπται.
And even if we did not suffocate, it would perhaps be nothing to wonder at; for the evaporation through the whole body in the baths is harmed in the same way as that through the mouth.
οὐκ ἔστι δὲ ταὐτὸν τὸ κατὰ τὸ στόμα μόνον ἀναπνεῖν τινα κακῶς τῷ κατὰ τοῦτο καὶ καθ’ ὅλον τὸ σῶμα.
And it is not the same thing for someone to breathe poorly through the mouth alone as to breathe poorly both through this and through the whole body.
μεγίστη δ’ ἀπόδειξις ἐπὶ πολλῶν ἀῤῥώστων γίγνεται, δι’ ὅλης μὲν ἡμέρας ἱδρούντων κρισίμως, πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἢ ἐν τοῖς βαλανείοις, οὐ μὴν ἐκλυομένων ὁμοίως ἐκείνοις, οὐδὲ πνιγομένων ὅλως, ἔστ’ ἂν ἀναπνέωσι τὸν ἔξωθεν ἀέρα τὸν ψυχρόν.
And the greatest proof occurs in the case of many sick people, who sweat critically through the whole day, much more than those in the baths, yet they are not weakened in the same way as those, nor do they suffocate at all, as long as they breathe the cold air from the outside.
εἰ δὲ καὶ συνείρξας αὐτοὺς ἱματίοις τι θερμὸν ἀναπνεῖν ἀναγκάσαις, ἀποπνίξαις αὐτίκα.
But if you were to wrap them in garments and force them to breathe something hot, you would suffocate them immediately.
τοὺς μέντοι κατεψυγμένους καὶ ῥιγοῦντας οὕτως συνείρξας οὐχ ὅπως οὐκ ἀποπνίξῃ, ἀλλ’ οὐδ’ ἀδικήσεις οὐδὲν, ἄχρις ἂν ἐκθερμανθέντες τύχωσι· τηνικαῦτα δ’ οὐκέθ’ ὑπομένουσιν, ὡς μὴ σύνηθες.
However, if you wrap those who are chilled and shivering in this way, not only will you not suffocate them, but you will not harm them at all, until they happen to be warmed; but at that point they no longer endure it, as it is unsuitable.
ἐξ ὧν ἁπάντων δῆλον, ὡς οὐ διὰ τὸ κενούμενον ἐξ ὅλου τοῦ σώματος ἐν τοῖς βαλανείοις πνεῦμα καταλυόμεθά τε καὶ τελευτῶμεν τὸν βίον, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὴν θερμασίαν.
From all this, it is clear that we are dissolved and end our life in the baths not because of the pneuma being evacuated from the whole body, but because of the heat.
θαυμάσαι δὲ ἔστιν οὐ τῶν ἄλλων τοσοῦτον Ἐρασίστρατον, τῶν τοιούτων φαινομένων κατατολμῶντα καταψεύσασθαι, ὃν οὐκ εἰκὸς ἄπειρον εἶναι τῆς διὰ τοῦ πίθου πυρίας τῶν ὑδερικῶν, εὐδοκιμησάσης οὐχ ἥκιστα τῶν ἄλλων παλαιῶν παρὰ Χρυσίππῳ τῷ Κνιδίῳ.
And one must wonder not so much at the others as at Erasistratus, who dares to lie against such obvious phenomena, of whom it is not likely that he was inexperienced in the dry-heat bath by means of a jar for dropsical patients, which was highly esteemed among other ancient remedies no least of all in the school of Chrysippus of Cnidus.
κενοῦνται γὰρ οὗτοι τὸ πᾶν σῶμα πολὺ θᾶττόν τε καὶ μᾶλλον, ἢ ἐν τοῖς βαλανείοις, οὐ μὴν πνίγονταί γε διὰ τὸ ψυχρὸν εἰσπνεῖν ἀέρα.
For these empty their whole body much faster and more than those in the baths, yet they do not suffocate because they breathe in cold air.
τούτου δ’ ἄν τις αὐτοὺς στερήσειεν, ἀποθνήσκουσιν ἐν τάχει.
But if one were to deprive them of this, they die quickly.
πῶς οὖν, φασὶν, ἔν τε τοῖς βαρυόδμοις βαράθροις, καὶ τοῖς νεωστὶ κεχρισμένοις οἴκοις τιτάνῳ, καὶ πρὸς τῆς τῶν ἐσβεσμένων ἀνθράκων ὀσμῆς πνιγόμεθα;
How is it then, they say, that we suffocate both in deep pits with heavy odors, and in rooms newly plastered with lime, and from the smell of extinguished coals?
κατὰ μὲν τὸν Ἐρασίστρατον, ὅτι λεπτὸς ὢν ἐν ταῖς τοιαύταις καταστάσεσιν ὁ ἀὴρ οὐ στέγεται πρὸς τῶν ἀρτηριῶν, ἀλλ’ ἐκκενοῦται ῥᾳδίως, καὶ ἐνδείᾳ πνεύματος ἀπόλλυται τὸ ζῶον.
According to Erasistratus, because the air being thin in such conditions is not retained by the arteries, but is easily evacuated, and the animal perishes from a lack of pneuma.
ἡμεῖς δέ φαμεν, ὅτι οὐδὲν ἐξετέλεσεν, ὡς Ἐρασιστράτου δείξαντος, ἢ λεπτὸν ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις τὸν ἀέρα γιγνόμενον, ἢ μὴ στεγόμενον τοῖς ζώων σώμασιν, ἢ μὴ τῆς ἀληθοῦς αἰτίας ἑτέρας οὔσης, ἢ χαλεπῆς ὑπαρχούσης εὑρεθῆναι.
But we say that nothing was accomplished by Erasistratus showing either that the air becomes thin in such places, or that it is not retained by the bodies of animals, or that the true cause is not another, or that it is difficult to find.
μακρότερα μὲν οὖν ἀναγκαζόμεθα λέγειν πρὸς τὰ εἰρημένα, χρὴ δὲ, ὅσον οἷόν τε, πειρᾶσθαι τεμεῖν αὐτὰ συντομώτερον.
We are of necessity forced to speak at greater length against what has been said, but we must, as far as possible, try to cut them shorter.
εἰ δ’ οὐδὲν ἔχω φάναι, τὰς πολλὰς ἀντιλογίας περικόψας, τοῦ φαίνεσθαι τὰς κινήσεις τῶν ἀρτηριῶν ἐν ταῖς τοιαύταις διαθέσεσι μηδὲν ἀπολειπομένας μεγέθει τε καὶ χρόνῳ τῶν ἔμπροσθεν, ὡς ἂν πλήρεις οὔσας δηλονότι τοῦ δι’ αὐτῶν φερομένου πνεύματος.
But if I have nothing to say, having cut off the many counter-arguments, except the fact that the movements of the arteries appear in such conditions to be in no way inferior in magnitude and time to those before, as being clearly full of the pneuma carried through them.
ἐχρῆν δ’ αὐτὰς μὴ ὅτι θᾶττον ἢ μικρότερον φαίνεσθαι σφυζομένας, ἀλλ’ ἀσφύκτους γίνεσθαι παντάπασιν, ὡς ἐστερημένας τελέως τοῦ πληροῦντος αὐτῶν τὰς κοιλίας ἀέρος.
But they ought to have appeared beating not just faster or smaller, but to have become entirely pulseless, as being completely deprived of the air filling their cavities.
ἀλλ’ εἰ τὴν Ἐρασιστράτου, φασὶ, διαβάλλεις αἰτίαν, εἰπέ. λέξω δὲ, ἐὰν πρότερον ὑμεῖς εἴπητέ μοι, διὰ ποίαν αἰτίαν θαλάττιοι ζωγρεῖς νάρκης ἁψάμενοι ναρκῶσι.
"But," they say, "if you reject the explanation of Erasistratus, speak." And I will speak, if you first tell me for what cause marine fishermen, when they touch a torpedo fish, are numbed.