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Anonymus Londinensis · Fragments §1

Retention of Excrement and Digestive Processes

Passage 1 of 1 · Greek

Summary

Physiological consequences of retaining excrement are discussed, explaining how evaporation from remaining waste functions as nourishment, followed by fragmentary notes on digestion and a medical prescription on the back.

§1## ANONYMI LONDINENSIS FRAGMENTA ol οἱ γ(ὰρ) προθυμίᾳ γι(νόμενοι) πρὸς τὸ διαχωρῆσαι, καταλαμβανόμενοι δὲ ἐν ἀγορᾶι ἢ ἐν ἀνεπιηδείοις, εἶτα συσχόντες ἐπὶ πλεῖον, οὐκέτι διαχωρο(ῦσιν) ἢ διαχωροῦσιν ἐλάχιστά τε καὶ ξηρ(ά).
## FRAGMENTS OF ANONYMUS LONDINENSIS For those who, having an impulse to evacuate, but being caught in the marketplace or in unsuitable places, then hold back for a longer time, no longer evacuate, or evacuate very little and dry matter.
τίνος αἰ(τίας) γι(νομένης);
From what cause happening?
δῆλον ὅτι ἀποφορᾶς καὶ ἀπ' αὐτ(ῶν) γεγενημέν(ης).
Clearly because evaporation has also taken place from them.
ἐξ ὦν φανερόν, ὡς τροφή (ἐστιν) καὶ ἡ ἐν ἐντέροις * * ἐὰν ݲ τούτ(ων) ο(ὕτως) ἐχό(ντων) τῆς γ(ὰρ) τροφῆς ἡμ(ῶν) ἐστιν) λεία[νσις. . . . . . . . . . δε τραχῖα καὶ κ(ατα)[[ κε]] χυλωμένη μ(ὲν) φ[. . . . . . . . . ] μὴ καὶ τὸ ἴτριον καὶ τὰ αι[. ]εια ειν συ[. ] καιε(??)] [. . . . . . . . . ] ἡ στερέμνιος, ὥς φ(ησιν) αὐτός, καὶ τὰ παραπλήσια κατ]α[σκευάξεται ἐν ἡμ(ῖν)] τοῦτο ἐπί τιν(ων) ξώιων [. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . τερον βορὰν ἐνίων [. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ] κατεργασίαν, τὸν δὲ λό(γον) τοῦτον ov [.
From which it is clear that even what is in the intestines is nourishment. * * If, these things being so, for of our food there is a grinding [...] rough and chymified on the one hand [...] lest also the thin cake and [...] [...] the solid, as he himself says, and similar things are prepared in us, this in the case of some animals [...] food of some [...] processing, and this account [...] of them.
. . ] ματα αὐτῶν. ή γ(ὰρ) τροφή [. . ] ἔσω βαλεῖν [. . εχθαι Fr.
For the food [...] to cast inside [...] Fr.
III Fr. IV ι την σα .
III Fr.
. . . av Fr.
IV Fr.
VI κ. . . . . α ι σ η ι VO.
VI Fr.
. . . . τ ι Fr. VII Fr.
VII Fr.
Vlll Fr.
VIII Fr.
IX Fr.
IX Fr.
X Fr.
X Fr.
XI Fr.
XI Fr.
XII ιν TCl Praeceptum in postica scriptum: σκαμωνε[ίας] ταρίκου (sic) βεελλύου (sic)
XII Prescription written on the back: of scammony of salted fish of bdellium

Notes

  1. p.75τίνος αἰ(τίας) γι(νομένης); — A genitive absolute construction with the interrogative pronoun τίνος, reconstructed from the abbreviations in the papyrus. It asks for the physiological cause of the phenomenon described just before.
  2. p.75ἀποφορᾶς... γεγενημέν(ης) — A genitive absolute construction. Introduced by the parenthetical δῆλον ὅτι (clearly), it answers the preceding question. The term ἀποφορά (evaporation, exhalation) is a crucial physiological concept in the medical theories discussed in this text.
  3. p.75ὡς τροφή (ἐστιν) καὶ ἡ ἐν ἐντέροις — In the ὡς clause, ἡ ἐν ἐντέροις (what is in the intestines, i.e., retained waste) is the subject, and τροφή (nourishment) is the predicate. It indicates the theory that 'evaporation' from waste matter still contributes to bodily nourishment.

Cite this passage

Anonymus Londinensis, Fragments §1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0643.tlg002.humanitext-grc1:1

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