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Aristotle · History of Animals §1.16#2

Structure of the Lungs and Digestive Organs

Passage 13 of 189 · Greek

Summary

Aristotle describes the structure of the epiglottis, lungs, and the respiratory connections between the windpipe, lungs, and heart, followed by an anatomical account of the digestive organs—the esophagus, stomach, intestines, omentum, and mesentery—in comparison with other animals.

§1.16#2Μεταξὺ δ’ ἔχει τῶν τρήσεων τὴν ἐπιγλωττίδα καλουμένην, ἐπιπτύσσεσθαι δυναμένην ἐπὶ τὸ τῆς ἀρτηρίας τρῆμα τὸ εἰς τὸ στόμα τεῖνον.
Between these passages, it has the so-called epiglottis, which is capable of folding over the opening of the windpipe that extends into the mouth.
Ταύτῃ δὲ τὸ πέρας συνήρτηται τῆς γλώττης.
To this, the end of the tongue is attached.
Ἐπὶ δὲ θάτερα καθήκει εἰς τὸ μεταξὺ τοῦ πλεύμονος, εἶτ’ ἀπὸ τούτου σχίζεται εἰς ἑκάτερον τῶν μερῶν τοῦ πλεύμονος.
At the other end, it extends down into the space between the lungs, and then from this, it splits into each of the parts of the lungs.
Θέλει γὰρ εἶναι διμερὴς ὁ πλεύμων ἐν ἅπασι τοῖς ἔχουσιν αὐτόν· ἀλλ’ ἐν μὲν τοῖς ζῳοτόκοις οὐχ ὁμοίως ἡ διάστασις φανερά, ἥκιστα δ’ ἐν ἀνθρώπῳ.
For the lung tends to be two-parted in all those that possess it; but in viviparous animals, the division is not equally obvious, and least of all in man.
Ἔστι δ’ οὐ πολυσχιδὴς ὁ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, ὥσπερ ἐνίων ζῳοτόκων, οὐδὲ λεῖος, ἀλλ’ ἔχει ἀνωμαλίαν.
And that of man is not deeply divided, like that of some viviparous animals, nor is it smooth, but it has roughness.
Ἐν δὲ τοῖς ᾠοτόκοις, οἷον ὄρνισι καὶ τῶν τετραπόδων ὅσα ᾠοτόκα, πολὺ τὸ μέρος ἑκάτερον ἀπ’ ἀλλήλων ἔσχισται, ὥστε δοκεῖν δύο ἔχειν πλεύμονας· καὶ ἀπὸ μιᾶς δύο ἐστὶ μόρια τῆς ἀρτηρίας, εἰς ἑκάτερον τὸ μέρος τείνοντα τοῦ πλεύμονος.
But in oviparous animals, such as birds and as many of the quadrupeds as are oviparous, each of the two parts is split far from each other, so that they seem to have two lungs; and from a single windpipe there are two parts, extending to each part of the lung.
Συνήρτηται δὲ καὶ τῇ μεγάλῃ φλεβὶ καὶ τῇ ἀορτῇ καλουμένῃ.
And the lung is also attached to the great vein and to the so-called aorta.
Φυσωμένης δὲ τῆς ἀρτηρίας διαδίδωσιν εἰς τὰ κοῖλα μέρη τοῦ πλεύμονος τὸ πνεῦμα.
And when the windpipe is inflated, it distributes the breath into the hollow parts of the lung.
Ταῦτα δὲ διαφύσεις ἔχει χονδρώδεις εἰς ὀξὺ συνηκούσας· ἐκ δὲ τῶν διαφύσεων τρήματα διὰ παντός ἐστι τοῦ πλεύμονος, ἀεὶ ἐκ μειζόνων εἰς ἐλάττω διαδιδόμενα.
And these parts have cartilaginous branchings that come together to a sharp point; and from these branchings, there are passages throughout the whole lung, always distributing from larger to smaller ones.
Συνήρτηται δὲ καὶ ἡ καρδία τῇ ἀρτηρίᾳ πιμελώδεσι καὶ χονδρώδεσι καὶ ἰνώδεσι δεσμοῖς· ᾗ δὲ συνήρτηται, κοῖλόν ἐστιν.
And the heart is also attached to the windpipe by fatty, cartilaginous, and fibrous bonds; and where it is attached, there is a cavity.
Φυσωμένης δὲ τῆς ἀρτηρίας ἐν ἐνίοις μὲν οὐ κατάδηλον ποιεῖ, ἐν δὲ τοῖς μείζοσι τῶν ζῴων δῆλον ὅτι εἰσέρχεται τὸ πνεῦμα εἰς αὐτήν.
And when the windpipe is inflated, in some animals it does not make it clearly visible, but in the larger animals it is clear that the breath enters into it.
Ἡ μὲν οὖν ἀρτηρία τοῦτον ἔχει τὸν τρόπον, καὶ δέχεται μόνον τὸ πνεῦμα καὶ ἀφίησιν, ἄλλο δ’ οὐθὲν οὔτε ξηρὸν οὔθ’ ὑγρόν, ἢ πόνον παρέχει, ἕως ἂν ἐκβήξῃ τὸ κατελθόν.
Now, the windpipe is in this condition, and it receives and lets out only the breath, and nothing else, whether dry or wet; otherwise, it causes distress, until that which went down is coughed out.
Ὁ δὲ στόμαχος ἤρτηται μὲν ἄνωθεν ἀπὸ τοῦ στόματος, ἐχόμενος τῆς ἀρτηρίας, συνεχὴς ὢν πρός τε τὴν ῥάχιν καὶ τὴν ἀρτηρίαν ὑμενώδεσι δεσμοῖς, τελευτᾷ δὲ διὰ τοῦ διαζώματος εἰς τὴν κοιλίαν, σαρκοειδὴς ὢν τὴν φύσιν, καὶ τάσιν ἔχων καὶ ἐπὶ μῆκος καὶ ἐπὶ πλάτος.
On the other hand, the esophagus is suspended from above from the mouth, adjoining the windpipe, being continuous with both the spine and the windpipe by membranous bonds, and it ends through the diaphragm into the stomach, being fleshy in nature, and having stretch both in length and in width.
Ἡ δὲ κοιλία ἡ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ὁμοία τῇ κυνείᾳ ἐστίν· οὐ πολλῷ γὰρ τοῦ ἐντέρου μείζων, ἀλλ’ ἐοικυῖα οἱονεὶ ἐντέρῳ εὖρος ἔχοντι· εἶτα ἔντερον ἁπλοῦν εἱλιγμένον, εἶτα ἔντερον ἐπιεικῶς πλατύ.
The stomach of man is similar to that of a dog; for it is not much larger than the intestine, but resembles, as it were, a wide intestine; then there is a simple coiled intestine, then a moderately wide intestine.
Ἡ δὲ κάτω κοιλία ὁμοία τῇ ὑείᾳ· πλατεῖά τε γάρ ἐστι, καὶ τὸ ἀπὸ ταύτης πρὸς τὴν ἕδραν παχὺ καὶ βραχύ.
The lower belly is similar to that of a pig; for it is wide, and the part leading from this to the anus is thick and short.
Τὸ δ’ ἐπίπλοον ἀπὸ μέσης τῆς κοιλίας ἤρτηται, ἔστι δὲ τὴν φύσιν ὑμὴν πιμελώδης, ὥσπερ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις τοῖς μονοκοιλίοις καὶ ἀμφώδουσιν.
And the omentum is suspended from the middle of the stomach, and is by nature a fatty membrane, just as in other animals that are single-stomached and have teeth in both jaws.
Ὑπὲρ δὲ τῶν ἐντέρων τὸ μεσεντέριόν ἐστιν· ὑμενῶδες δ’ ἐστὶ τοῦτο καὶ πλατύ, καὶ πῖον γίνεται.
Above the intestines is the mesentery; this is membranous and wide, and becomes fatty.
Ἐξήρτηται δὲ ἐκ τῆς μεγάλης φλεβὸς καὶ τῆς ἀορτῆς. καὶ δι’ αὐτοῦ φλέβες πολλαὶ καὶ πυκναί, κατατείνουσαι πρὸς τὴν τῶν ἐντέρων θέσιν, ἄνωθεν ἀρξάμεναι μέχρι κάτω.
And it is suspended from the great vein and the aorta; and through it run many and dense veins, extending toward the position of the intestines, starting from above down to the bottom.
Τὰ μὲν οὖν περὶ τὸν στόμαχον καὶ τὴν ἀρτηρίαν οὕτως ἔχει, καὶ τὰ περὶ τὴν κοιλίαν.
So then, the parts concerning the esophagus and the windpipe, and those concerning the stomach, are in this way.

Notes

  1. p.23θέλει γὰρ εἶναι — The verb ἐθέλω/θέλω ('to wish/want') with an infinitive is used idiomatically here to mean 'tends to be' or 'is naturally inclined to be,' expressing a natural or regular tendency.
  2. p.24εἰς ὀξὺ συνηκούσας — The participle συνηκούσας is the feminine plural accusative present participle of συνήκω ('to come together, meet'), modifying the preceding noun διαφύσεις. The phrase εἰς ὀξύ is an adverbial expression meaning 'to a sharp point' or 'tapering off.'
  3. p.24ἢ πόνον παρέχει — The conjunction ἤ here functions after the negative οὐδέν either to mean 'except' or disjunctively as 'or else / otherwise' (implying 'if anything else enters'). It establishes the logical connection that the windpipe receives nothing else, or if it does, it causes distress.
  4. p.25ἀμφώδουσιν — Dative plural masculine of the adjective ἀμφώδους ('having teeth in both jaws'), modifying the omitted noun implied by the preceding dative article (τοῖς ἄλλοις τοῖς μονοκοιλίοις). It refers to non-ruminant animals with teeth in both jaws in Aristotle's classification.

Cite this passage

Aristotle, History of Animals §1.16#2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0086.tlg014.humanitext-grc1:1.16%232

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