§3Περὶ δὲ τοῦ μὴ δι’ ἀρτηριῶν μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ διὰ τῶν φλεβῶν καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων ἐπιῤῥεῖν ἐκ τῆς καρδίας τοῖς μορίοις τὴν θερμασίαν, ἐπεὶ διὰ βραχέος εἴρηται πρόσθεν, αὖθις ἡμῖν ἀναληπτέον τε καὶ ἀποδεικτέον, εἰποῦσι πρότερον τὰ φαινόμενα, δι’ ὧν ἄν τις αὐτὸ συλλογίσαιτο.
Regarding the fact that warmth flows from the heart to the parts not only through the arteries, but also through the veins and all the other channels, since it has been spoken of briefly before, we must take it up again and demonstrate it, having first stated the phenomena through which one might infer it.
πολλοὺς οὖν ἤδη πολλάκις μονομάχους μονάρχους τε καὶ στρατιώτας καὶ κυνηγέτας οὕτω τρωθῆναι συνέβη φλέβας καὶ ἀρτηρίας, ὥστε ἀναγκασθῆναι τοὺς ἰατροὺς βρόχῳ διαλαβεῖν αὐτάς.
Now, it has already happened many times to many gladiators, monarchs, soldiers, and hunters to be so wounded in their veins and arteries that the doctors were forced to bind them with ligatures.
καὶ οὗτοι πάντες οὐ μετὰ πολὺν χρόνον ψυχροτέρων αἰσθάνονται τῶν μορίων, πρωϊαίτερον μὲν, εἰ τὰς φλέβας καὶ τὰς ἀρτηρίας βρόχῳ διαλάβοις, ὀψιαίτερον δὲ, εἰ τὰς ἀρτηρίας μόνον, ἥκιστα δὲ, εἰ μόνας τὰς φλέβας.
And all of these, not long after, perceive that the parts are colder: earlier, indeed, if you should bind both the veins and the arteries, but later if the arteries alone, and least of all if the veins alone.
ἐξ ὧν δῆλον, ἥκειν μέν τινα καὶ διὰ τῶν φλεβῶν εἰς τὰ μόρια θερμασίαν, ἀλλ’ ἐλάττονα μακρῷ τῆς διὰ τῶν ἀρτηριῶν.
From which it is clear that some warmth does come to the parts through the veins as well, but far less than that through the arteries.
εἰ δὲ χωρὶς τραύματος ἐθελήσαις μόριόν τι τοῦ σώματος λαβὼν ἰσχυρῶς καταδῆσαι, παραχρῆμα πελιδνόν τε καὶ ψυχρὸν αὐτὸ γινόμενον θεάσῃ, δῆλον ὡς στερηθὲν τῆς ἄνωθεν ἐπιῤῥεούσης διὰ πάντων τῶν μερῶν αὐτοῦ θερμασίας.
And if, without a wound, you should wish to take some part of the body and bind it tightly, you will immediately see it becoming livid and cold, clearly because it has been deprived of the warmth flowing down from above through all its parts.
ὁπότ’ οὖν καὶ τοῦτο δέδεικται, καὶ φαίνεται μηδὲν ἐναντιούμενον τῷ μὴ μίαν εἶναι τὴν χρείαν τῆς ἀναπνοῆς καὶ τῶν σφυγμῶν, ἕτοιμον ἤδη συλλογίσασθαι, φυλακῆς ἕνεκα τῆς καθ’ ἕκαστον μόριον θερμασίας γεγονέναι τοὺς σφυγμούς.
Therefore, since this too has been shown, and it appears in no way opposed to the fact that the utility of respiration and of the pulsations is not one and the same, it is already easy to infer that the pulsations have come to be for the sake of preserving the warmth in each part.
ὥσθ’, ὅπερ ἐκ τῆς ἀναπνοῆς τῇ καρδίᾳ μόνῃ, τοῦτ’ ἐξ ἐκείνων τῷ καθ’ ὅλον τὸ ζῶον ὑπάρχειν θερμῷ, εἶναι δὲ καὶ τὸ τῆς πέψεως τοῦ ψυχικοῦ πνεύματος κοινὸν μὲν ἀμφοῖν, ἀλλ’ ἰδιαίτατον τῶν ἀρτηριῶν, εἴ γε δὴ μεμνήμεθα τῶν ὀλίγον πρόσθεν εἰρημένων περὶ τοῦ δικτυοειδοῦς πλέγματος.
So that, what respiration does for the heart alone, this the pulsations do for the heat throughout the whole animal, and that the concoction of the psychic pneuma is common to both, but most peculiar to the arteries, if indeed we remember what was said a little earlier about the retiform plexus.
ἐπεὶ τοίνυν ἐν τῷ περὶ χρείας ἀναπνοῆς ἐδείκνυτο διὰ μὲν τῆς εἰσπνοῆς ἐμψυχόμενον τὸ ἔμφυτον θερμὸν, διὰ δὲ τῆς ἀναπνοῆς οἷον καθαιρόμενον, ἐκκρινομένου τοῦ καπνώδους περιττώματος, ἄμφω δὲ ταῦτ’ εἰς τὴν φυλακὴν αὐτοῦ συντελεῖν, δῆλον ὡς κᾀπὶ τῶν σφυγμῶν ἐροῦμεν, ἐν μὲν ταῖς διαστολαῖς ἕλκεσθαί τινα οὐσίαν ἀερώδη, κατὰ δὲ τὰς συστολὰς ἐκκρίνεσθαι τὸ ἐκ τῆς τῶν χυμῶν συγκαύσεως καθ’ ὅλον τὸ ζῶον γινόμενον οἷον καπνῶδες περίττωμα.
Since, then, in the treatise On the Use of Respiration it was shown that the innate heat is cooled through inspiration, and is, as it were, cleansed through expiration, the smoky residue being excreted, and that both of these contribute to its preservation, it is clear that we shall say the same also for the pulsations: that in the diastoles some airy substance is drawn in, while during the systoles that which is produced from the combustion of the humors throughout the whole animal, being like a smoky residue, is excreted.