§3.5.15 Καὶ περὶ μὲν τῆς καρδίας, ποία τις, καὶ τίνος ἕνεκεν καὶ διὰ τίνʼ αἰτίαν ὑπάρχει τοῖς ἔχουσιν, τοσαῦτ’ εἰρήσθω.
5 Regarding the heart, then, what kind of organ it is, and for what purpose and for what cause it belongs to those that have it, let so much be said.
ἑπόμενον δʼ ἅν εἴη περὶ τῶν φλεβῶν εἰπεῖν,τὴςτε μεγάληςκαὶτῆς ἀορτῆς· αυται γὰρ ἐκτὴς καρδίας πρῶται δέχονται τὸ αὶμα, αἱ δὲ λοιπαὶ τούτων ἀποφυάδες εἰσίν.
It would be next in order to speak about the vessels, both the great vessel and the aorta; for these are the first to receive the blood from the heart, and the remaining ones are offshoots of these.
ὅτι μὲν οὖν τοῦ αἵματος χάριν εἰσί, πρὸτερον εἴρηται· τό τε γὰρ ὑγρὸν ἅπαν ἀγγείου δεῖται, καὶ τὸ φλεβῶν γένος ἀγγεῖον, τὸ δʼ αἷμα ἐν ταύταις·
Now, that they exist for the sake of the blood has been said before; for every liquid needs a receptacle, and the class of vessels is a receptacle, and the blood is in these.
διότι δὲ δύο καὶ ἀπὸ μιᾶς ἀρχῆρ καθʼ ἅπαν τὸ σῶμα διατείνουσι, λέγωμεν.
But why there are two, and why they extend from a single principle throughout the whole body, let us say.
§3.5.22 τού μὲν οὖν εἰς μίαν ἀρχὴν συντελεῖν καὶ ἀπὸ μιᾶς σἴτιον τὸ μίαν ἔχειν πάντα τὴν αἰσθητικὴν ψυχὴν ἐνεργείᾳ, ὥστε καὶ τὸ μόριον ἕν τὸ ταύτην ἔχον πρώτως, ἐν μὲν τοῖς ἐναίμοις κατὰ δύναμιν καὶ κατ’ ἐνέργειαν, τῶν δʼ ἀναίμων ἐνίοις κατ’ ἐνεργείαν μόνον.
2 Now, the cause of their converging into a single principle and starting from a single one is that all animals have actually a single sensitive soul, so that the part which primarily possesses this soul is also single—in blooded animals both potentially and actually, and in some of the bloodless ones actually only.
διὸ καὶ τὴν τού θερμοῦ ἀρχὴν ἀναγκαῖον ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ τόπῳ εἶναι· αὕτη δʼ ἐστὶν αἰτία καὶ τῷ αἵματι τῆς ὑγρότητος καὶ τῆς θερμὸτητος.
Therefore, it is also necessary for the principle of heat to be in the same place; and this is the cause of both the liquidity and the warmth of the blood.
§3.5.33 διὰ μὲν οὖν τὸ ἐν ἑνὶ εἶναι μορίῳ τὴν αἰσθητικὴν ἀρχὴν καὶ τὴν τῆς θερμότητος καὶ ἡ τού αἵματος ἀπὸ μιᾶς ἐστὶν ἀρχῆρ, διὰ δὲ τὴν τού αἵματος ἑνότητα καὶ ἡ τῶν φλεβῶν ἀπὸ μιᾶς.
3 Therefore, because the sensitive principle and that of heat are in a single part, the principle of the blood is also from a single source, and because of the unity of the blood, that of the vessels is also from a single source.
δύο δʼ εἰσὶ διὰ τὸ τὰ σύύματα εἶναι διμερῆ τῶν ἐναίμων καὶ πορευτικῶν· ἐν πἀσι γὰρ τούτοις διύὸρισται τὸ ἔμπροσθεν καὶ τὸ ὄπισθεν καὶ τὸ δεξιὸν καὶ τὸ ἀριστερὸν καὶ τὸ ἄνω καὶ τὸ κάτω.
But there are two vessels because the bodies of blooded and locomotive animals are bipartite; for in all of these there are distinguished front and back, right and left, up and down.
§3.5.4ὅσῳ δὲ 4 τιμιητερον καὶ ἠγεμονικῶτερον τὸ ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ ὅπισθεν, τοσούτῳ καὶ ἡ μεγάλη φλὲψ τῆς ἀορτῆς· ἡ μὲν γὰρ ἐν τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν, ἡ δʼ ἐν τοῖς ὄπισθεν κεῖται, καὶ τὴν μὲν ἅπαντ’ ἔχει τὰ ἔναιμα φανερς, τὴν δʼ ἕυια μὲν ἀμυδρῶς ἔνια δʼ ἀφανής.
4 And by as much as the front is more honorable and dominant than the back, by so much also is the great vessel superior to the aorta; for the former lies in the front parts, and the latter in the back parts, and the former is clearly possessed by all blooded animals, while the latter is indistinct in some and invisible in others.
τοῦ δʼ εἰς τὸ πᾶν διαδεδόσθαι τὸ σῶμα τὰς φλέβας σἴτιον τὸ παντὸς εἶναι τού σώὸματος ὕλην τὸ αἷμα, τοῖς δʼ ἀναίμοις τὸ ἀνάλογον, ταύτα δʼ ἐν φλεβὶ καὶ τὼ ἀνάλογον κεῖσθαι.
And the cause of the vessels being distributed throughout the whole body is that the blood is the matter of the whole body (and in bloodless animals that which is analogous to it), and these lie in the vessel (and that which is analogous to it).
§3.5.5πῶς μὲν σὖν τρέφεται τὰ ζᾧα καὶ ἐκ 5 τίνος καὶ τίνα τρὸπον ἀναλαμβάνουσιν ἐκ τῆς κοιλίας ἐν τοῖς περὶ γενέσεωος λόγοις μἀλλον ἁρμόζει σκοπεῖν καὶ λέγειν·
5 Now, how animals are nourished, and from what, and in what manner they take up nourishment from the stomach, is more appropriate to consider and speak of in the treatises On Generation.
συνισταμένων δὲ τῶν μορίων ἐκ τού αἵματος, καθάπερ εἴπομεν, εὐλόγως ἡ τῶν φλεβῶν ῥύσις διὰ παντὸς τοῦ σώμακτος πέφυκεν· δεῖ γὰρ καὶ τὸ αἷμα διὰ παντὸς καὶ παρὰ πάν εἶναι, εἴπερ τῶν μορίων ἕκαστον ἐκ τούτου συνέστηκεν.
But since the parts are constituted from the blood, as we said, it is reasonable that the flow of the vessels naturally extends through the whole body; for the blood must also be through the whole and beside every part, if indeed each of the parts is constituted from this.
§3.5.6ἔοικε δʼ ὥσπερ 6 ἔν τε τοῖς κήποις αἱ ὑὅραγωγίαι κατασκευάζονται ἀπὸ μιᾶς ἀρχῆς καὶ πηγης είς πολλοὺς ὀχετοὺς καὶ ἅλλους ἀεὶ πρὸς τὸ πάντῃ μεταδιδόναι, καὶ ἐν ταῖς οἰκοδομίαις παρὰ πᾶσον τὴν τῶν θεμελίων ὑπογραφὴν λίθοι παραβέβληνται διὰ τὸ τὰ μὲν κηπευόμενα φύεσθαι ἐκ τοῦ ὕδατος, τοὺς δὲ θεμελίους ἐκ τῶν λίθων οίκοδομεῖσθαι, τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον καὶ ἡ φύσις τὸ αἷμα διὰ παντὸς ὸχέτευκε τοῦ σύματος, ἐπειδὴ παντὸς ὕλη πέφυκε τοὺτο.
6 For it is like the way irrigation channels in gardens are constructed from a single principle and source into many conduits and always others, so as to distribute water everywhere, and the way in buildings stones are laid along the whole outline of the foundations, because what is cultivated grows from water, and the foundations are built from stones. In the very same way, nature also has channeled the blood through the whole body, since this is naturally the matter of the whole.