Galen: On the Natural Faculties by Galen
Chapter XV
265 words | Chapter 45
The two kinds of attraction--the mechanical attraction
of dilating bellows and the "physical" (vital)
attraction by living tissue of nutrient matter which is
specifically allied or appropriate to it. The former
kind--that resulting from _horror vacui_--acts primarily
on light matter, whereas vital attraction has no
essential concern with such mechanical factors. A hollow
organ exercises, by virtue of its cavity, the former
kind of attraction, and by virtue of the living tissue
of its walls, the second kind. Application of this to
question of contents of arteries; _anastomoses of
arteries and veins_. _Foramina in interventricular
septum of heart_, allowing some blood to pass from right
to left ventricle. Large size of aorta probably due to
fact that it not merely carries the pneuma received from
the lungs, but also some of the blood which percolates
through septum from right ventricle. Thus arteries carry
not merely pneuma, but also some light vaporous blood,
which certain parts need more than the ordinary thick
blood of the veins. The organic parts must have their
blood-supply sufficiently near to allow them to absorb
it; comparison with an irrigation system in a garden.
Details of the process of nutrition in the ultimate
specific tissues; some are nourished from the blood
directly; in others a series of intermediate stages must
precede complete assimilation; for example, marrow is an
intermediate stage between blood and bone.
From the generalisations arrived at in the present work
we can deduce the explanation of all kinds of particular
phenomena; an instance is given, showing the
co-operation of various factors previously discussed.
GALEN
ON THE NATURAL FACULTIES[5]
Reading Tips
Use arrow keys to navigate
Press 'N' for next chapter
Press 'P' for previous chapter