§3.4.14 Καὶ περὶ μὲν αὐχένος τε καὶ οἰσοφάγου καὶ ἀρτηρίας εἴρηται, ἕπόμενον δʼ ἐστὶ περὶ σπλάγχνων εἰπεῖν.
4 Now, while the neck, the oesophagus, and the windpipe have been discussed, the next task is to speak about the internal organs.
ταῦτα δʼ ἐστὶν ἴδια τῶν ἐναίμων, καὶ τοῖς μὲν ἅπανθʼ ὑπάρχει, τοῖς δʼ οὐχ ὑπάρχει.
These are unique to red-blooded animals, and in some they are all present, while in others they are not.
τῶν δʼ ἀναίμων οὐδὲν ἔχει σπλάγχνον.
But of the bloodless animals, none has any internal organ.
Δημόκριτος δʼ ἔοικεν οὐ καλῶς διαλαβεῖν περὶ αύύτῶν, εἴπερ ᾧήθη διὰ μικρὸτητα τῶν ἀναίμων ζῴων ἄθηλα εἶναι ταῦτα.
Democritus seems to have understood them incorrectly, if indeed he thought that these are invisible because of the smallness of bloodless animals.
συνισταμένων γὰρ εὐθέως τῶν ἐναίμων καὶ πάμπαν ὄντων μικρῶν ἕνδηλα γίνεται καρδία τε καὶ ἡπαρʼ φαίνεται γὰρ ἐν μὲν τοῖς ωοῖς ἐνίοτε τριταίοις οὗσι στιγμῆς ἔχοντα μέγεθος, πάμμικρα δὲ καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἐκβολίμοις τῶν ἐμβρύων.
For as soon as red-blooded animals are formed, even when they are altogether small, the heart and the liver become visible; for sometimes in eggs that are only three days old, they are seen having the size of a dot, and they are also extremely small in aborted embryos.
§3.4.22 ἔτι δʼ ὥσπερ τῶν ἐκτὸς μορίων οὐ πἀσι τῶν αὐτῶν χρῆσις, ἀλλʼ ἑκάστοις ἰδίᾳ πεπόρισται πρός τε τοὺς βίους καὶ τὰς κινήσεις, οὕτω καὶ τὰ ἐντὸς ἄλλα πέφυκεν ἄλίοις.
2 Furthermore, just as in the case of the external parts, the same use does not belong to all, but each has been provided individually with a view to their lives and movements, so also the internal parts are naturally different in different animals.
τὰ δὲ σπλάγνα των αἱμ ατικῶν ἐστὶν ἴδια, διὸ καὶ συνέστηκεν αὐτῶν ἕκαστον ἐξ αἱματικῆς ὕλης.
The internal organs are unique to red-blooded animals, which is why each of them is composed of bloody material.
δῆλον δʼ ἐν τοῖς νεογνοῖς τούτωνʼ αίματωδέστερα γὰρ καὶ μέγιστα κατὰ λόγον διὰ τὸ εἶναι τὸ εἶδος τῆς ὕλης καὶ τὸ πλὴθος ἐμφανέστατον κατὰ τὴν πρτην σύστασιν.
This is clear in their newborns; for they are more blood-like and proportionally largest, because the form and the quantity of the material are most manifest at the first formation.
§3.4.3καρδία μὲν σὖν ἅπασιν ὑπάρχει τοῖς ἐναίμοις· διʼ ἣν 3 δʼ αἰτίαν, εἴρηται καὶ πρότερον.
Therefore, the heart is present in all red-blooded animals; for what cause, has been said before.
αἷμα μὲν γὰρ ἔχειν τοῖς ἐναίμοις δῆλον ὡς ἀναγκαῖον· ὑγροῦ δʼ ὄντος τού αἵματος ἀναγκαῖον ἀγγεῖον ὑπάρχειν, ἐφʼ ὅ δὴ καὶ φαίνεται μεμηχανὴσθαι τὰς φλέβας ἡ φύσις.
For it is clear that it is necessary for red-blooded animals to have blood; and since blood is liquid, it is necessary that a vessel exists, for which indeed nature seems to have devised the blood vessels.
ἀρχὴν δὲ τούτων ἀναγκαῖον εἶναι μίαν· ὅπου γὰρ ἐνδέχεται, μίαν βέλτιον ἢ πολλάς.
And it is necessary that there is one principle of these; for where it is possible, one is better than many.
ἡ δὲ καρδία τῶν φλεβῶν ἀρχή.
And the heart is the principle of the blood vessels.
φαίνονται γὰρ ἐκ ταύτης ουσαι καὶ οὐ διὰ ταύτης, καὶ ἡ φύσις αὐτῆς φλεβώδης ὡς ὁμογενοῦς οὔσης.
For they are clearly seen to arise from it and not to pass through it, and its own nature is vessel-like as being of the same kind.
§3.4.4ἔχει δὲ καὶ ἡ θέσις αὐτὴς ἀρχικὴν 4 χώραν· περὶ μέσον γάρ, μᾶλλον δʼ ἐν τῷ ἄνω ἢ κάτω καὶ ἔμπροσθεν ὄπισθεν· ἐν τοῖς γὰρ τιμιωτέροις τὸ τιμιωτερον καθίδρυκεν ἡ φύσις, οὐ μή τι κωλύει μεῖζον.
And its position itself occupies a ruling place; for it is near the middle, but rather in the upper than the lower, and in the front than the back; for nature places the more honorable in the more honorable parts, unless some greater thing prevents.
ἐμφανέστατον δὲ τὸ λεχθέν ἐστιν ἐπὶ τῶν ἀνθρύπων, βούλεται δὲ καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἄλλοις ὁμολόγως ἐν μέσῳ κεῖσθαι τού ἀναγκαίου σήὸὸματος.
And what has been said is most manifest in humans, but in others too it tends to lie in the middle of the necessary body in a corresponding way.
τούτου δὲ πέρας ὴ τὰ περιττώματα ἀποκρίνεται· τὰ δὲ κῶλα πέφυκεν ἄλίοις ἄλωος, καὶ οὐκ ἔστι τῶν πρὸς τὸ ζῆν ἀναγκαίων, διὸ καὶ ἀφαιρουμένων ζῶσιν· δῆλον δʼ ὡς οὐδὲ προστιθέμενα φθείρει.
And the limit of this is where the residues are excreted; but the limbs are naturally different in different animals, and they are not among the parts necessary for life, which is why animals live even when they are removed; and it is clear that neither do they destroy when added.
§3.4.5σἱ δʼ ἐν τὴ κεφαλῇ 5 λέγοντες τὴν ἀρχὴν τῶν φλεβῶν οὐκὀρθῶς ὑπέλαβον.
And those who say that the principle of the blood vessels is in the head have understood incorrectly.
πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ πολλὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ διεσπασμένας ποιοῦσιν, εἶτʼ ἐν τὸπῳ ψυχρῷ.
For first they make many and dispersed principles, and secondly they place it in a cold region.
δηλοῖ δὲ δύσριγος ὤν, ὁ δὲ περὶ τὴν καρδίαν τοὐναντίον.
That it is sensitive to cold shows this, while the region around the heart is the opposite.
§3.4.6ὧσπερ δʼ 6 ἐλέχθη, διὰ μὲν τῶν ἄλλων σπλάγχνων διέχουσιν αἱ φλέβες, διὰ δὲ τὴς καρδίας οὐ διατείνει φλέψ· ὅθεν καὶ ὅῆλον ὅτι μόριον καὶ ἀρχὴ τῶν φλεβῶν ἐστὶν ἡ καρδία.
And as has been said, while the blood vessels pass through the other internal organs, no blood vessel extends through the heart; whence it is also clear that the heart is a part and the principle of the blood vessels.
καὶ τοῦτʼ εὺλόγωςʼ μέσον γὰρ τὸ τὴς καρδίας ἐστὶ σῶμα πυκνὸν καὶ κοῖλον πεφυκὸς, ἔτι δὲ πλῆρες αἵματος ὡς τῶν φλεβῶν ἐντεῦθεν ἠργμένων, κοῖλον μὲν πρὸς τὴν ὑποδοχὴν τοὺ αἵματος, πυκνὸν δὲ πρὸς τὸ φυλάσσειν τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς θερμότητος.
And this is reasonable; for the body of the heart is in the middle, naturally dense and hollow, and moreover full of blood, since the blood vessels begin from there—hollow for the reception of blood, but dense to guard the principle of heat.
ἐν ταύτῃ γὰρ μὸνῃ τῶν σπλάγχνων καὶ τὸῦ σύματος αἷμα ἅνευ φλεβῶν ἐστί, τν δʼ ἄλλων μορίων ἕκαστον ἐν ταῖς φλεψὶν ἔχει τὸ αἷμα.
For in this alone of the internal organs and of the body, blood exists without vessels, while each of the other parts has its blood in the vessels.
καὶ τοῦτʼ εὺλόγως· ἐκ τῆς καρδίας γὰρ ἐποχετεύεται καὶ είς τὰς φλέβας, εἰς δὲ τὴν καρδίαν οὐκ ἄλλοθεν· αὕτη γάρ ἐστιν ἀρχὴ καὶ πηγὴ τοῦ αἵματος ἢ ὑκοδοχὴ πρώτη.
And this is reasonable; for the blood is channeled from the heart into the vessels, and not from elsewhere into the heart; for this is the principle and source of the blood, or its first receptacle.