§1616.
16.
Ὀσφραίνεται δ’ ὁ ἐγκέφαλος ὑγρὸς ἐὼν αὐτὸς τῶν ξηρῶν, ἕλκων τὴν ὀδμὴν ξὺν τῷ ἠέρι διὰ τῶν βρογχίων ξηρῶν ἐόντων· προήκει γὰρ ὁ ἐγκέφαλος τῆς ῥινὸς ἐς τὰ κοῖλα·
The brain, being itself wet, smells dry things when it draws the odor along with the air through the passages which are dry; for the brain extends into the cavities of the nose.
καὶ ταύτῃ αὐτῷ οὐκ ἔστιν ἐπίπροσθεν ὀστέον οὐδὲν, ἀλλὰ χόνδριον μαλακὸν ὅκως περ σπόγγος, οὔτε κρέας οὔτε ὀστέον.
And in this part there is no bone in front of it, but soft cartilage like a sponge, being neither flesh nor bone.
Καὶ ὅταν μὲν ξηρὰ ᾖ τὰ κοῖλα τῆς ῥινὸς, ὀσμᾶσθαι τῶν ξηροτέρων αὐτὸς ἑωυτοῦ ἀκριβέστερός ἐστιν· ὕδατος γὰρ οὐκ ὀδμᾶται· ὑγρότερον γάρ ἐστι τοῦ ἐγκεφάλου, ἐὰν μὴ σαπῇ·
And when the cavities of the nose are dry, the brain smells more accurately than its own usual state; for it does not smell water, because water is wetter than the brain, unless it putrefies.
σηπόμενον γὰρ τὸ ὕδωρ παχύτερον γίνεται καὶ τὰ ἄλλα πάντα·
For when water putrefies, it becomes thicker, as do all other things.
ὁκόταν δὲ ὑγρανθέωσιν αἱ ῥῖνες, οὐ δύναται ὀσφραίνεσθαι· οὐ γὰρ τὸν ἠέρα ἕλκει αὐτὸς πρὸς ἑωυτόν.
But whenever the nostrils become wet, it cannot smell; for it does not draw the air to itself.
Ταύτῃ δὲ καὶ ὅταν ἀποτήκῃ ὁ ἐγκέφαλος πλεῖστον αὐτὸς ἀφ’ ἑωυτοῦ ἐς τὴν ὑπερώην καὶ τὴν φάρυγγα καὶ τὸν πνεύμονα καὶ ἐς τὴν ἄλλην κοιλίην, γινώσκουσιν οἱ ἄνθρωποι καὶ φασὶ καταῤῥέειν ἐκ τῆς κεφαλῆς· καταῤῥέει δὲ καὶ ἐς τὸ ἄλλο σῶμα· καί ἐστι τροπὴ τῷ θερμῷ. §1717.
And for this reason, when the brain itself melts and flows down from itself in greatest quantity into the palate, the pharynx, the lungs, and into the rest of the cavity, people recognize it and say that there is a catarrh from the head; and it also flows down into the rest of the body, and this is a change caused by heat. 17.
Ὁρῇ δὲ διὰ τοῦτο· ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐγκεφάλου τῆς μήνιγγος φλὲψ καθήκει ἐς τὸν ὀφθαλμὸν διὰ τοῦ ὀστέου ἑκάτερον·
And one sees for this reason: from the membrane of the brain, a vein descends through the bone into each eye.
διὰ ταύταιν ταῖν φλεβοῖν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐγκεφάλου διηθέεται τὸ λεπτότατον τοῦ κολλωδεστάτου·
Through these two veins, the finest part of the most glutinous matter is filtered from the brain.
καὶ διὰ τοῦτο αὐτὸ περὶ αὐτὸν δέρμα ποιέει τοιοῦτον οἷόν περ αὐτό ἐστι τὸ διαφανὲς τοῦ ὀφθαλμοῦ τὸ πρὸς τοῦ ἠέρος, πρὸς ὃ προσβάλλει τὰ πνεύματα, κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν λόγον ὥσπερ περὶ τοῦ ἄλλου δέρματος ἔλεξα.
And because of this, that matter itself forms around itself a membrane such as is the transparent part of the eye facing the air, against which the winds strike, according to the same principle as I explained concerning the rest of the skin.
Πολλὰ δὲ ταῦτ’ ἐστὶ τὰ δέρματα πρὸ τοῦ ὁρέοντος διαφανέα, ὁκοῖόν περ αὐτό ἐστιν· τούτῳ γὰρ τῷ διαφανεῖ ἀνταυγέει τὸ φῶς καὶ τὰ λαμπρὰ πάντα·
And there are many of these transparent membranes in front of the seeing part, such as it itself is; for by this transparent part, light and all bright things are reflected.
τουτέῳ οὖν ὁρῇ τῷ ἀνταυγέοντι· ὅ τι δὲ μὴ λαμπρόν ἐστι μηδὲ ἀνταυγεῖ, τουτέῳ οὐχ ὁρῇ·
With this reflecting part, therefore, one sees; but what is not bright and does not reflect, by this one does not see.
τὸ δὲ ἄλλο τὸ περὶ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς λευκὸν κρέας ἐστίν.
The rest around the eyes is white flesh.
Ἡ δὲ κόρη καλεομένη τοῦ ὀφθαλμοῦ μέλαν φαίνεται διὰ τοῦτο, ὅτι ἐν βάθει ἐστὶ καὶ χιτῶνες περὶ αὐτὸ εἰσὶ μέλανες· χιτῶνα δὲ καλέομεν τὸ ἐνεὸν ὥσπερ δέρμα·
And the so-called pupil of the eye appears black for this reason, because it is in the depth and the membranes around it are black; and we call a membrane that which is like an internal skin.
ἔστι δὲ οὐ μέλαν ὄψει, ἀλλὰ λευκὸν διαφανές.
But it is not black to the sight, but white and transparent.
Τὸ δὲ ὑγρὸν κολλῶδες· πολλάκις γὰρ ὀπώπαμεν ἐπὶ συῤῥαγέντος ὀφθαλμοῦ ἐξιὸν ὑγρὸν κολλῶδες·
And the fluid is glutinous; for we have often seen, when an eye has been ruptured, a glutinous fluid coming out.
κἢν μὲν ᾖ ἔτι θερμὸν, ὑγρόν ἐστιν· ἐπειδὰν δὲ ψυχθῇ, ἐγένετο ξηρὸν ὥσπερ λιβανωτὸς διαφανὴς, καὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ τῶν θηρίων ὅμοιόν ἐστι.
And while it is still warm, it is fluid; but when it has cooled, it becomes dry like transparent frankincense, and it is similar in both humans and beasts.
Τὸν δὲ ὀφθαλμὸν ἀνιᾷ πᾶν ὅ τι ἂν ἐμπέσῃ, καὶ τὰ πνεύματα προσβάλλοντα, καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ὅσα λαμπρότερα ἢ κατ’ αὐτόν ἐστι, καὶ εἴ τις ἐγχρίσει, διὰ τόδε, ὅτι ὁμόχροια ἔνυγρός ἐστιν, ὥσπερ τὸ στόμα καὶ ἡ γλῶσσα καὶ ἡ ἄλλη κοιλίη ἔνυγρά ἐστιν. §1818.
And the eye is pained by everything that falls into it, and by winds striking it, and by all other things that are brighter than itself, and if anyone applies an ointment, for this reason: because it is of like color and moist, just as the mouth and the tongue and the other cavity are moist. 18.
Διαλέγεται δὲ διὰ τὸ πνεῦμα ἕλκων ἔσω ἐς πᾶν τὸ σῶμα, τὸ πλεῖστον δὲ ἐς τὰ κοῖλα αὐτὸς ἑωυτῷ·
And one speaks because one draws the breath inward into the whole body, and mostly into the cavities for oneself.
αὐτὸ δὲ θύραζε ὠθεόμενον διὰ τὸ κενὸν ψόφον ποιέει· ἡ κεφαλὴ γὰρ ἐπηχεῖ.
And this breath, being pushed outward through the empty space, makes a sound; for the head resonates.
Ἡ δὲ γλῶσσα ἀρθροῖ προσβάλλουσα· ἐν τῷ φάρυγγι ἀποφράσσουσα καὶ προσβάλλουσα πρὸς τὴν ὑπερώην καὶ πρὸς τοὺς ὀδόντας ποιέει σαφηνίζειν·
And the tongue articulates by striking; blocking the pharynx and striking against the palate and against the teeth, it makes the speech clear.
ἢν δὲ μὴ ἡ γλώσση ἀρθροῖ προσβάλλουσα ἑκάστοτε, οὐκ ἂν σαφέως διαλέγοιτο, ἀλλ’ ᾗ ἕκαστα φύσει τὰ μονόφωνα.
If the tongue did not articulate by striking each time, one would not speak clearly, but only those simple sounds which each has by nature.
Τεκμήριον δέ ἐστι τουτέῳ, οἱ κωφοὶ οἱ ἐκ γενεῆς οὐκ ἐπίστανται διαλέγεσθαι, ἀλλὰ τὰ μονόφωνα μοῦνον φωνέουσιν, οὐδ’ εἴ τις τὸ πνεῦμα ἐκπνεύσας πειρῷτο διαλέγεσθαι. Δῆλον δὲ τόδε·
And a proof of this is that those who are deaf from birth do not know how to speak, but only sound the simple sounds, nor could anyone speak if he tried to speak after exhaling all his breath.
οἱ ἄνθρωποι ὁκόταν βούλωνται μέγα φωνῆσαι, ἕλκοντες τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἔξω ὠθέουσι θύραζε καὶ φθέγγονται μέγα ὡς ἀντηχῇ τὸ πνεῦμα, ἔπειτα δὲ καταμαραίνεται τὸ φθέγμα·
And this is clear: when people want to call out loudly, drawing in the breath they push it outward and cry out loudly so that the breath resonates, and then the cry dies away.
καὶ οἱ κιθαρωδοὶ, ὁκόταν δέῃ αὐτοῖς μακροφωνέειν, ἐπ’ ἄκρον ἑλκύσαντες τὸ πνεῦμα ἔσω πουλὺ ἐκτείνουσι τὴν ἐκφορὰν καὶ φωνοῦσι καὶ φθέγγονται μέγα ὡς ἀντηχῶσι τῷ πνεύματι, ἐπὴν δὲ τὸ πνεῦμα ἐπιλίπῃ, καταπαύονται· τουτέοισι δῆλον ὅτι τὸ πνεῦμά ἐστι τὸ φθεγγόμενον.
And the cithara players, when they need to hold a long note, drawing in much breath to the utmost, extend the emission for a long time and sing and cry out loudly so that they resonate with the breath; but when the breath fails, they stop. By these things it is clear that the breath is what produces the voice.
Εἶδον δὲ ἤδη οἳ, σφάξαντες ἑωυτοὺς, ἀπέταμον τὸν φάρυγγα παντάπασιν· οὗτοι ζῶσι μὲν, φθέγγονται δὲ οὐδὲν, εἰ μή τις συλλάβῃ τὸν φάρυγγα· οὗτοι δὲ φθέγγονται·
And I have already seen some who, having cut their own throats, severed the pharynx completely; these people live, but they utter nothing unless someone holds the pharynx together; then they speak.
δῆλον δὲ καὶ τούτῳ, ὅτι τὸ πνεῦμα οὐ δύναται, διατετμημένου τοῦ λάρυγγος, ἕλκειν ἔσω ἐς τὰ κοῖλα, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὸ διατετμημένον ἐκπνέει.
And by this too it is clear that when the trachea is severed, one cannot draw the breath inward into the cavities, but exhales through the severed part.
Οὕτως ἔχει περὶ φωνῆς ἴσως καὶ διαλέξιος.
This is how it is, perhaps, concerning voice and speech.