§5#1Ἴδωμεν δ’ ἐφεξῆς, εἰ δύναται τρέφεσθαι τὸ ψυχικὸν πνεῦμα πρὸς τῆς ἀναπνοῆς.
Let us see next whether the psychic pneuma can be nourished by respiration.
εἴπωμεν δὲ πρότερον, πῶς καλοῦμέν τι ψυχικὸν πνεῦμα, ἀγνοεῖν ὁμολογοῦντες οὐσίαν ψυχῆς.
But let us state first how we call something the "psychic pneuma," while confessing that we are ignorant of the substance of the soul.
ἐπεὶ τοίνυν αἱ κατὰ τὸν ἐγκέφαλον κοιλίαι τοῦ πνεύματος, ἐπειδὰν τρωθῇ, εὐθὺς ἀκινήτους τε καὶ ἀναισθητοῦντας ἡμᾶς ἐργάζονται, χρὴ τοῦτο τὸ πνεῦμα πάντως ἤτοι τὴν οὐσίαν αὐτὴν εἶναι τῆς ψυχῆς, ἢ τὸ πρῶτόν γε αὐτῆς ὄργανον.
Since, therefore, the ventricles of the brain, whenever it is wounded, immediately render us motionless and insensate, this pneuma must entirely be either the substance itself of the soul, or at least its primary instrument.
εἴρηται δὲ ἑτέρωθι περὶ αὐτῶν διὸ πλειόνων ἀκριβέστερον, ἐν οἷς καὶ τοῦτ’ εὐθὺς εἴρηται, ὡς ἀναγκαῖόν ἐστι τοῦτο τὸ πνεῦμα τρέφεσθαι.
But these things have been spoken of elsewhere more accurately and at greater length, in which this very point is also immediately stated, that it is necessary for this pneuma to be nourished.
πόθεν οὖν, φασὶν, ἄλλοθεν ἕξει τὴν τροφὴν, εἰ μὴ παρὰ τοῦ διὰ τῆς εἰσπνοῆς ἑλκομένου; καίτοι κᾀκ τῆς τοῦ αἵματος ἀναθυμιάσεως οὐκ ἀπεικὸς αὐτὸ τρέφεσθαι, καθάπερ καὶ πολλοῖς τῶν ἐλλογίμων ἰατρῶν τε καὶ φιλοσόφων ἔδοξεν.
"From what other source, then," they say, "will it have its nourishment, if not from that which is drawn in through inhalation?" And yet, it is not unlikely that it is also nourished by the exhalation of the blood, just as it seemed to many of the reputable physicians and philosophers.
ἀλλ’ οὐδ’ ἐκ τῆς εἰσπνοῆς ὁμοίως οἱ περὶ τὸν Ἐρασίστρατον τοῖς περὶ τὸν Ἱπποκράτην τρέφεσθαί φασι τὸ ψυχικὸν πνεῦμα.
But those around Erasistratus and those around Hippocrates do not say that the psychic pneuma is nourished from inhalation in the same way.
τοῖς μὲν γὰρ ἐκ τῆς καρδίας διὰ τῶν ἀρτηριῶν ἐπὶ τὰς μήνιγγας, τοῖς δὲ εὐθὺς διὰ τῶν ῥινῶν εἰς τὰς κατὰ τὸν ἐγκέφαλον κοιλίας ἔρχεσθαι τὸ πνεῦμα δοκεῖ.
For to the former, the pneuma seems to go from the heart through the arteries to the meninges, while to the latter, it seems to go directly through the nostrils into the ventricles of the brain.
τὴν μὲν Ἐρασιστράτου περὶ τούτων δόξαν κᾀνταῦθα καταλίπωμεν, ἐξελεγχομένην πολυειδῶς περὶ τῶν ἐν σφυγμοῖς αἰτιῶν.
Let us abandon Erasistratus' opinion on these matters here too, as it is refuted in many ways concerning the causes of the pulse.
ἐπὶ δὲ τὴν ἀληθῆ μεταβάντες, τὴν καὶ ταῖς ἀρτηρίαις αἷμα μεταδιδοῦσαν, ἐπισκεψώμεθα τουτὶ τὸ φαινόμενον, οὗ πολλάκις ἐπειράθημεν.
But turning to the true opinion, which also imparts blood to the arteries, let us examine this very phenomenon, which we have often tested.
ἐν γὰρ τῷ βρόχοις διαλαμβάνεσθαι τὰς κατὰ τὸν τράχηλον ἀρτηρίας οὐδὲν πάσχει τὸ ζῶον οὔτ’ εὐθὺς οὔθ’ ὕστερον, ὡς ἡμεῖς ἐνίοτε πειρώμενοι ἐν βρόχοις αὐτὰς διελαμβάνομεν.
For in the ligation of the arteries of the neck with ligatures, the animal suffers nothing either immediately or afterwards, as we ourselves, sometimes making the test, ligated them with ligatures.
ὅλην δὲ ἡμέραν τὸ ζῶον εἰσπνέον τε καὶ ἐκπνέον καὶ κινούμενον ἀκωλύτως ἰδόντες, νυκτὸς ἤδη βαθείας ἐσφάξαμεν;
And having seen the animal breathing in and out and moving without hindrance for a whole day, did we slaughter it when deep night had already come?
οὐκέθ’ ἡγούμενοι τὴν ἐπὶ πλέον πεῖραν πίστιν ὑπάρχειν. · δύνασθαι γὰρ ἐν τοσούτῳ χρόνῳ διὰ τοὺς περικειμένους βρόχους συμπαθῆσαί τι τῶν κυριωτάτων μορίων.
For we no longer thought that further trial would yield proof; for in so much time, some of the most principal parts could suffer sympathetically because of the surrounding ligatures.
ἐθαυμάζομεν οὖν, τὰς ἐκ τῶν κυριωτάτων τῶν ζωτικῶν ὀργάνων, τῶν τῆς καρδίας, εἰς τὰ κυριώτατα τῶν ψυχικῶν, τὸν ἐγκέφαλον, τεταμένας ἀρτηρίας οὕτως ἄλυπον τῷ παντὶ βίῳ τὴν βλάβην ἐχούσας εὑρίσκοντες.
We wondered, therefore, finding that the arteries extending from the most principal of the vital organs, those of the heart, to the most principal of the psychic ones, the brain, had their injury so painless for the whole of life.
ἀλλὰ περὶ μὲν τούτων κᾀν τῷ περὶ χρείας σφυγμῶν ἐπιπλέον ζητήσομεν.
But concerning these things we shall inquire further in the book On the Use of the Pulse.
ὅπερ δ’ ἐξ αὐτῶν ἐστιν εἰς τὰ παρόντα χρήσιμον, οὗ χάριν ἐμνημόνευσα τῶν καρωτίδων ἀρτηριῶν, τοῦτ’ αὖθις λεγέσθω, τοῦ μὴ πάνυ τι δεῖσθαι τοῦ παρὰ τῆς καρδίας πνεύματος τὸν ἐγκέφαλον.
But what is useful from them for the present, on account of which I mentioned the carotid arteries, let this be said again: that the brain does not need the pneuma from the heart at all.
ἀπολείπεται γοῦν; ἤτοι τὴν ἀναθυμίασιν αὐτῷ τὴν ἐκ τοῦ αἵματος ἱκανὴν ὑπάρχειν, ἢ τὴν διὰ τῶν ῥινῶν εἰσπνοήν.
It remains, therefore, that either the exhalation from the blood is sufficient for it, or the inhalation through the nostrils.
ἀλλ’ οὐδὲ τὴν ἀναθυμίασιν εἰκὸς γίνεσθαι δαψιλῆ, βρόχῳ διαλειφθεισῶν τῶν ἀρτηριῶν.
But it is not likely that the exhalation becomes abundant when the arteries are ligated with a ligature.
δείκνυται δὲ τοῦτο ἐν τῷ περὶ χρείας σφυγμῶν.
And this is shown in the book On the Use of the Pulse.
ἀναγκαῖον οὖν ἐκ τῆς διὰ τῶν ῥινῶν ἐστιν ὡς τὴν πλείστην εἶναι τροφὴν τῷ ψυχικῷ πνεύματι.
It is necessary, therefore, that most of the nourishment for the psychic pneuma is from that which comes through the nostrils.
τοῦτ’ ἔστι τὸ παρ’ Ἱπποκράτους λεγόμενον· Ἀρχὴ τροφῆς πνεύματος στόμα, ῥῖνες, βρόγχος, πνεύμων, καὶ ἡ ἄλλη ἀναπνοή. ἐξ ἁπάντων γὰρ τούτων τρέφεται, μηδαμῆ παρεμποδιζόμενον· εἰ δὲ καὶ παρεμποδίζοιτο καθ’ ἓν ὁτιοῦν αὐτῶν, ἀλλ’ ἔτι διά γε τῶν λοιπῶν ὑπηρετεῖται.
This is what is said by Hippocrates: "The beginning of nourishment of the pneuma is the mouth, nostrils, bronchus, lung, and other respiration." For it is nourished from all of these, when hindered in no way; and even if it should be hindered in any single one of them, yet it is still served through the rest.
μαθεῖν δὲ ἐναργῶς ἔστιν ἐξ οὗ μέλλομεν εἰπεῖν φαινομένου περὶ τῆς οἰκείας πνεύμονος εἰς τὰς καθ’ ὅλον ἀρτηρίας μεταλήψεως τοῦ πνεύματος, ὡς ἤτοι βραχὺ ἔτι παντελῶς, ἢ οὐδ’ ὅλως γίγνεται.
And we can learn clearly from the phenomenon we are about to describe that the transference of the pneuma from the lung itself into the arteries throughout the whole body either occurs only to a completely small extent or does not occur at all.
περιτιθέντες γὰρ παιδὸς τῷ στόματι καὶ ταῖς ῥισὶ μεγάλην κύστιν βοείαν, ἤ τι τοιοῦτον ἕτερον ἀγγεῖον, ὡς μηδαμῆ παραπνεῖσθαι μηδὲν τῆς ἀναπνοῆς δι’ ὅλης ἡμέρας, εἴδομεν ἀκωλύτως πνέοντα αὐτόν.
For when we placed a large ox-bladder, or some other such vessel, around the mouth and nostrils of a child, so that none of the respiration leaked out at all during the whole day, we saw him breathing without hindrance.
ἐξ οὗ δῆλον, ὡς ἤτοι μικρὸν παντελῶς ἢ οὐδ’ ὅλως αἱ κατὰ τὸ ζῶον ἀρτηρίαι ἔχουσι τῶν ἔξωθεν ποιοτήτων ἀνάγκην, καὶ μάλιστα τῆς θερμότητος.
From which it is clear that either to a completely small extent or not at all do the arteries throughout the animal have need of external qualities, and especially of heat.