§2Ἀρκτέον δ’ ἀπὸ τῶν ἐξ ἑαυτοῦ φέρεσθαι λεγόντων.
We must begin with those who say that it moves of its own accord.
ἢ γὰρ τοῦτο πάντη δήπου λεπτομερέστερον, οἷον τὸ αἰθερῶδες, ἢ ἄλλως πως θερμότερον εἶναι φήσουσιν αὐτὸ τοῦ περιέχοντος ἡμᾶς ἀέρος.
For they will surely say that it is either in every way finer, like the ether, or in some other way hotter than the air that surrounds us.
οὐδὲ γὰρ τρίτον ἕξουσιν εἰπεῖν πνεύματος σύμπτωμα, δι’ ὃ φέρεσθαι δύναιτο ἄν.
For they will have no third attribute of pneuma to mention, by virtue of which it could move.
λεπτομερέστερον μὲν οὖν οὐκ ἂν εἴη τὸ κατὰ τὰς ἀρτηρίας πνεῦμα τοῦ περιέχοντος ἡμᾶς ἀέρος, ὡς ἡ γένεσις αὐτοῦ διδάσκει.
Now, the pneuma in the arteries could not be finer than the air surrounding us, as its generation teaches.
γίγνεται γὰρ κατὰ τὸν Ἐρασίστρατον ἐκ τοῦ περιέχοντος ἡμᾶς ἀέρος εἴσω τοῦ σώματος εἰς μὲν τὰς κατὰ πνεύμονα πρώτας ἀρτηρίας ἐλθόντος, ἔπειτα δὲ εἰς τὴν καρδίαν καὶ τὰ ἄλλας.
For according to Erasistratus it is generated from the air surrounding us, which enters inside the body, first into the first arteries in the lungs, and then into the heart and the others.
εἰς ὅσον οὖν ὑγροτέροις ὁμιλεῖ σώμασιν, εἰς τοσοῦτο εἰκὸς αὐτὸ παχυμερέστερόν τε καὶ ἁπαλωδέστερον γίνεσθαι.
Therefore, to the extent that it associates with wetter bodies, to that extent it is likely to become thicker and softer.
θερμότερον δὲ γίνεται, ἀλλ’ ὡς ἀτμὸς ἄνω φερόμενον οὔτε ἀφανῆ τὴν κένωσιν, οὔτε οὕτως ὠκεῖαν ἕξει.
It does become hotter, but moving upward like vapor it will have an emptying that is neither unnoticeable nor so rapid.
Πραξαγόρας μὲν οὖν καὶ παχυμερέστερον αὐτὸ καὶ ἱκανῶς ἀτμῶδες εἶναί φησιν, Ἐρασίστρατος δὲ, ὅπη μὲν ἔχει πάχους, οὐ διώρισεν, ἐξ ὧν δ’ ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ λέγει τεκμήραιτ’ ἄν τις, οὐδαμῶς αὐτὸ προσήκειν εἶναι λεπτόν.
Thus Praxagoras says that it is both thicker and sufficiently vaporous, while Erasistratus did not define its degree of thickness, but from what he says about it, one would infer that it is by no means fitting for it to be fine.
τάς τε γὰρ ἀρτηρίας ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ πληρουμένας διαστέλλεσθαί φησι, καὶ τὰς τῶν μυῶν κοιλίας ὡσαύτως, οὐδετέρου δὴ τούτων γίγνεσθαί ποτ’ ἂν δυνηθέντος, εἰ λεπτομερὲς ἀκριβῶς ὑπῆρχεν· οὐ γὰρ δὴ ἴσχεσθαί γε τὸ τοιοῦτο μᾶλλον ἐν τοῖς σώμασιν, ἀλλ’ ἐκπέμπεσθαι πρέπει.
For he says that the arteries are dilated by being filled by it, and likewise the cavities of the muscles, neither of which could ever happen if it were strictly fine-grained; for such a thing would not be retained in bodies, but rather should be discharged.
τί ποτ’ οὖν ἐκφυσώμενον οὐ φαίνεται παραπλησίως τῷ κατὰ τὰς ἐκ τοῦ θώρακός τε καὶ τοῦ περιτοναίου καὶ τῆς φάρυγγος τρώσεις;
Why on earth, then, is it not seen being blown out, in a manner similar to what happens in the case of wounds to the chest, peritoneum, and pharynx?
γελοῖον δ’ ἴσως ποιοῦμεν ἐξ ἑτέρων αὐτὸ συλλογιζόμενοι, παρὸν αὐτοὺς ὑπομνῆσαι τῶν ἀρτηριῶν, ἐξ ὧν ὅταν ἀθρόον ἐξακοντίζηται τὸ αἷμα, σαφῶς ἐκφυσώμενον φαίνεται.
But perhaps we are acting ridiculously by inferring this from other things, when we could remind them of the arteries, from which, when blood spurts out in a rush, it is clearly seen being blown out.
ὡς γὰρ θερμότερον, οὕτω καὶ ἀτμωδέστερον τὸ κατὰ τὰς ἀρτηρίας αἷμα.
For as the blood in the arteries is hotter, so also is it more vaporous.
οὐ μὴν αὐτός γε καθ’ ἑαυτὸν ἀτμὸς, ἢ ἀὴρ, ἢ αἰθὴρ, ἢ ὅλως πνεῦμα περιεχόμενον ἐν αὐτῷ φαίνεται.
Yet neither vapor by itself, nor air, nor ether, nor pneuma in general is seen contained in it.
καὶ γὰρ, εἰ τῇ λεπτοτάτῃ βελόνῃ διατρήσαιο ἀρτηρίαν, εὐθὺς ἐξακοντίζεται τὸ αἷμα.
Indeed, even if you were to pierce an artery with the finest needle, the blood immediately spurts out.
ἐχρῆν δ’, οἶμαι, καὶ εἰ μὴ διὰ τοῦ μεγάλου τραύματος, ἀλλὰ γοῦν τοῦ μετρίου, μὴ ταχέως, μηδ’ ἀναισθήτως, ἀλλ’ ἐν χρόνῳ πλείονι κενοῦσθαι τὸ πνεῦμα.
But in my opinion, even if not through a large wound, yet at least through a moderate one, the pneuma ought to have been emptied not quickly, nor imperceptibly, but over a longer time.
πρὶν γὰρ ἐκεῖνο κενωθῇ, πάντως οὐκ ἐκπίπτει διὰ τοῦ τραύματος τὸ αἷμα, λέγοντός γε αὐτοῦ τοῦ Ἐρασιστράτου, τὰς ποῤῥωτάτω κειμένας ἀρτηρίας πρώτας ἀπολαύειν τῆς μεταχύσεως.
For before that is emptied, the blood certainly does not escape through the wound, since Erasistratus himself says that the arteries lying furthest away are the first to experience the transference.
εἰ δὲ καὶ μὴ πρὸς ἐκείνου γεγραμμένον ἦν, ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἠκολούθησε ταῖς ὑποθέσεσιν.
And even if it had not been written by him, it would follow of necessity from his hypotheses.
εἰ γὰρ συνεχὲς αὐτῷ πάντως ἐστὶ τὸ κατὰ τὰς ἀρτηρίας πνεῦμα, καὶ οὕτως εὐκίνητόν τε καὶ λεπτὸν, ὡς ἐν ἀκαρεῖ χρόνῳ κενοῦσθαι ῥᾳδίως, οὐ τὸ μὲν ἐν ταῖς διαιρουμέναις ἀρτηρίαις κενωθήσεται μόνον, τὸ δ’ ἐν ταῖς ἄλλαις ἁπάσαις μενεῖ.
For if the pneuma in the arteries is entirely continuous with itself, and is so mobile and fine as to be easily emptied in an instant, it will not be that only the pneuma in the divided arteries is emptied, while that in all the others remains.
πρόδηλον γὰρ, ὡς τῷ προτέρῳ τῷ κατὰ τὴν τετμημένην τὸ λοιπὸν ἅπαν ἑτοίμως ἀκολουθήσει, καὶ πρώτη ταῖς ὑστάταις ἐπίδηλος ἡ κένωσις γενήσεται, μηκέτ’ ἐχούσαις ἑτέρας, ὅθεν μεταληφθήσεται.
For it is manifest that all the rest will readily follow the first pneuma in the cut artery, and the emptying will become visible first in the furthest arteries, since they no longer have other arteries from which pneuma can be transferred.
ἐν αὐτῇ οὖν πρώτως κίνδυνος τοῦ κενὸν γενέσθαι τόπον, εἰ μὴ τῇς οὐσίας πληρώσειε τὴν χώραν τοῦ μεταλαμβανομένου πνεύματος.
Therefore, in that very artery there is first of all a danger of a void being created, unless the substance of the transferred pneuma should fill the space.
καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἕπεται τὸ διὰ τῶν συναναστομώσεων, ὡς αὐτός φησιν, αἷμα τῇ πρὸς τὸ κενούμενον ἀκολουθίᾳ, καὶ τοῦτο, ὥσπερ προδεδεμένον τῷ κατὰ τὰ πέρατα τῶν ὑστάτων ἀρτηριῶν πνεύματι, πρῶτον μὲν ἅπαντος τοῦ ἄλλου αἵματος, ὕστατον δὲ παντὸς τοῦ κατὰ τὰς ἀρτηρίας πνεύματος κενωθήσεται.
And for this reason, as he himself says, the blood through the anastomoses necessarily follows, in consequence of the emptying, and this blood—as if bound beforehand to the pneuma at the extremities of the furthest arteries—will be emptied first of all other blood, but last of all the pneuma in the arteries.
δύο οὖν ἄτοπα μέγιστα συμβήσεται κατὰ τὸν λόγον, πρότερον μὲν τὸ διὰ τοῦ κατὰ τὴν βελόνην τρήματος ἅπαν ἐκκενοῦσθαι τὸ κατὰ τὰς ἀρτηρίας πνεῦμα ταχέως οὕτως, ὥστε λαθεῖν, δεύτερον δὲ τὸ ζῇν ἔτι τὸ ζῶον, ἅπαντος τοῦ ζωτικοῦ πνεύματος ἐκκενουμένου.
Two greatest absurdities, therefore, will result from this argument: first, that all the pneuma in the arteries is emptied through the hole made by the needle so quickly as to escape notice; second, that the animal still lives when all the vital pneuma has been emptied.
ἀλλὰ τοιαῦτα καὶ μετ’ ὀλίγον ἐξέσται διελθεῖν.
But it will be possible to discuss such matters a little later.