On the nature of the organ and its parts

We say: organs are bodies born from the first mixture of praiseworthy juices, just as juices are bodies born from the first mixture of elements.

Among the organs, there are simple and complex organs. Simple organs are those, any tangible particle of which, taken separately, bears the same name, without limitation, as the entire organ. Such, for example, are meat with its particles, bone with its particles, nerve and its particles, and the like. Therefore, such organs are called “similar in terms of their particles.”

And complex organs are those in which any particle, taken separately, does not bear the same name as the entire organ, and is limited by its name. Such, for example, are a hand or a face, for part of a face is not a face, and part of a hand is not a hand. They are called “instrument organs” because they are instruments of the soul in all movements and actions.

The first of the "particularly similar organs" is bone. It is created solid, because it serves as a support for the body and the basis of movements.

Then comes the cartilage. They are softer than bones, so they can bend, but are harder than other organs. The useful function for which cartilage was created is that thanks to cartilage, bones are well connected to soft organs and the hard does not come into direct contact with the soft. Therefore, the soft does not suffer from contact with the hard, especially during impact or compression, for such a connection is indirect. This is the case, for example, with the scapula bone, the cartilage of the rear ribs and the dagger-shaped cartilage located under the sternum. Cartilage also exists so that joints rubbing against each other adhere properly to one another and do not break due to their hardness.

And one more thing: when any muscle reaches out to an organ that does not have bone, it rests on cartilage and the cartilage strengthens it. These are, for example, the muscles of the eyelids, where cartilage serves as support and support for tendons. In many places there is also a need for a support located on something strong, but not too hard, such as the larynx.

Then come the nerves. These are bodies originating in the brain or spinal cord, white, flexible and soft when bent, but difficult to separate. They are designed to give organs full ability to feel and move.

Then come the tendons. These are bodies that originate at the ends of muscles and are similar to nerves. They are adjacent to moving organs and either attract them due to tension, when the muscle contracts, contracts and moves back, or release when the muscle stretches, returning to its previous position, or becomes longer in size than it was in its natural position, as we do visible in some muscles. In most cases, tendons consist of nerves that penetrate the muscle and exit on the other side, and those bodies whose description follows the description of tendons, that is, bodies called ligaments these bodies also look and feel like nerves and run from organs to muscles. Tendons, like nerves, are divided into fibers those fibers that adjoin the muscles are layered with meat, and those that are separated from the muscles and go to the joint and moving organs are collected and twisted into muscle tendons.

Then come the connections we just mentioned. They are also nerve-like bodies. Some of them are called ligaments in general, others, in addition, have a special name for veins.

Those of them that stretch to the muscles are called only ligaments As for those that do not stretch to the muscle, but connect the ends of the bones of the joint or other organs and strengthen some connection, then they, called ligaments, also have a special name for veins. None of the ligaments has sensitivity this is because the ligaments should not experience pain from the frequent movement and friction inherent in them. The useful function of connectives can be seen from the preceding.

Then come the arteries. These are hollow bodies that come out of the heart and extend in length in their substance they are similar to nerves and ligaments and are capable of movement, that is, of expansion and contraction, which are separated from each other by moments of rest. Arteries are created to purify the heart, remove smoky vapor from it and, by God's will, distribute pneuma to parts of the body.

Next come the veins, which are like arteries, leaving the liver and remaining at rest they serve to distribute blood to parts of the body.

Then come the shells. These are bodies woven from imperceptible nerve-like fibers, thin and loose, diverging in width. They cover and envelop the surface of other bodies for various useful purposes. So, for example, membranes hold the entire given organ in its proper form and in its characteristic outlines, and also suspend some organs from others and connect them to each other through nerves and ligaments, which break up into threads from which the membrane is woven for example, the kidney is connected to the spinal ridge. They also serve to create in organs whose substance is devoid of sensitivity, a surface capable of directly sensing what happens to it, and indirectly sensing what happens in the body it envelops. Such organs include, for example, the lungs, liver, spleen and kidneys, for they do not feel anything at all with their substance and feel the shocks of objects in contact with them only through the membranes covering them. When wind or a tumor forms in these organs, it is felt most strongly. As for the wind, the shell indirectly feels it, as it is subject to stretching. As for the tumor, the place where the membrane begins and attaches is indirectly sensed by the tumor, since the organ slopes downward due to the severity of the tumor.

Next comes the meat, which fills the gaps between the listed organs in the body and constitutes their strength and support.

Each organ has within itself an innate force with the help of which the work of nutrition is carried out, that is, attraction, assimilation and retention, assimilation and binding of food, as well as the ejection of excess. But in relation to everything else, the organs are dissimilar, since some of them have, in addition to this force, also a force that passes from them to other organs, while other organs do not have this property.

On the other hand, individual organs have, in addition to their innate strength, also a force that passes to them from another organ, but other organs do not have this property. When all this is combined, there are organs that receive and give, organs that give but do not receive, organs that receive but do not give, and organs that do not receive and do not give.

As for the organ that receives and gives, no one doubts its existence. With regard to the brain and liver, doctors agree that each of these organs receives from the heart animal strength, innate warmth and pneuma, and that each of them is at the same time a source of strength, which it transmits to other organs.

The brain is the beginning of the perception of sensations, according to some, unconditionally, but according to others, not unconditionally The liver is a source of nutrition, according to some, unconditionally, but according to others, not unconditionally.

As for the organ that receives but does not give, there is even less doubt about its existence. This is, for example, meat: it receives from the outside the power to feel and live, but is not itself the beginning of any power that it would in one way or another transfer to another organ.

As for the other two categories, doctors disagree with many philosophers regarding one of them. Most of the ancient philosophers say that such an organ is the heart, for it is the root cause of all force and transmits to the other organs the forces by which they feed, live, perceive sensations and move. Doctors, like some ancient philosophers, on the contrary, distribute these forces among various organs and do not talk about the existence of an organ that would transmit force and not receive it. The opinion of most ancient philosophers, after careful examination, turns out to be more correct, but the opinion of doctors at first glance seems clearer.

Regarding the second category, both doctors and philosophers disagree. Some believe that insensitive bones and meat and other similar organs exist only thanks to those forces that are originally inherent in them and do not pass into them from other sources and that such organs, when nourished, do not transmit their power to any other organ, nor does any organ transmit to them any other power.

Other doctors and philosophers believe that these forces are not originally inherent in such organs, but pour out from the liver and heart when they first arise and remain there.

The doctor is not obliged to seek a way out of these disagreements through evidence, since the doctor, since he is a doctor, does not have a path to this and this does not interfere with him in any research and actions. However, regarding the first controversial issue, the doctor must know and be convinced that it does not matter to him whether the heart is or is not the source of the ability of sensation and movement for the brain and the ability to nourish the liver, since the brain is either itself or after the heart, is the beginning of mental functions in relation to other organs, and the liver is also the beginning of natural nutritional functions in relation to other organs. Regarding the second, controversial question, the doctor must know and be convinced that it does not matter to him how the innate force arises, for example, in the bone: whether it pours out from the liver when it first arises, or whether the bone disposes of it according to its own nature, or does not occur neither one nor the other however, the physician now needs to be firmly aware that the force is not constantly being poured into the bone from the liver. If the path between the bone and the liver were blocked and the bone had nutritious food with it, the functions of the bone would still cease, as happens with sensation and movement when the nerve coming from the brain is blocked on the contrary, this strength is innate for the bone as long as it retains its nature unchanged.

When the doctor understands this, the meaning of dividing organs into categories will be revealed to him. It will become mandatory for him to have the existence of leading bodies and bodies serving the leading bodies, as well as bodies of subordinates, but not service ones, and bodies that are not subordinate and not subordinate.

The dominant organs are those that are the source of the initial forces in the body necessary for the preservation of the individual or species. In relation to the preservation of the individual, there are three dominant organs: the heart is the source of animal force, the brain is the source of the force of sensation and movement, and the liver is the source of nourishing force. In relation to the preservation of the species, the dominant organs are the same three, and a fourth one associated with the preservation of the species, namely the testicles of a given individual, for which they are necessary for one task and at the same time useful for another task. As for necessity, this refers to the formation of a seed that retains the power of reproduction, and their usefulness is expressed in the completion of male and female image and nature, which are both incidental properties necessarily inherent in animal species, but are not properties included in the concept itself. animality."

As for the service bodies, some of them perform a preparatory service, while others perform a guide service. The preparatory service is called the useful function, and the conductor service is called the service in the absolute sense.

The preparatory service precedes the action of the dominant organ, and the conductor service follows the action of the dominant organ. As for the heart, the preparing servant for it are, for example, the lungs, and the conductors are, for example, the arteries. For the brain, the preparatory servant is, for example, the liver and other organs of nutrition and preservation of the pneuma, and the conductors, for example, are the nerves.

c For the liver, the preparatory servant is, for example, the stomach, and the conductors, for example, are the veins. For the testicles, the preparatory servants are, for example, the organs that first generate the seed, and the conductors in men are the urinary canal and the vessels between the testicles and the urinary canal, and in women the vessels through which the seed penetrates into the place of conception. Moreover, women also have a uterus, in which the useful function of the seed is completed.

Galen says: “There are organs that are characterized only by action, there are also those that are characterized only by useful function and some organs have both action and useful function at the same time. The first includes, for example, the heart, the second the lungs, and the third the liver.”

I say: by actions we should understand those actions related to the life of an individual or the preservation of the species, which are completely performed by any one organ, such as the action inherent in the heart when it generates pneuma. And by useful function we must understand a function that serves to perceive the action of another organ then the action which imparts life to the individual or ensures the preservation of the species becomes complete This is, for example, the preparation of air by the lungs.

The liver first performs the second digestion and prepares for the third and fourth digestion the food that was completely digested during the first digestion, so that the blood becomes suitable for feeding the liver itself by this she produces an effect insofar as it produces an effect that promotes some expected effect, it turns out to be useful.

We also say, returning to the beginning of the presentation, that among the organs there are those that arise from the seed these are organs similar in respect of particles, with the exception of meat and lard, and also those that arise from the blood, such as lard and meat, for all organs, except these two, arise from both varieties of semen, i.e. semen male and female seed. But only according to the scientists who have studied this, they arise from the male seed, as cheese arises from the action of rennet, and from the female seed they arise, as cheese arises from milk. Just as the active principle of curdling lies in the abomasum, so the active principle of the formation of form is inherent in the male seed just as the passive principle of curdling is in milk, so the passive principle of forming, that is, the passive force, is contained in the seed of a woman.

Just as rennet and milk are each part of the substance of the cheese formed from them, so each of the two

varieties of seed is part of the substance of the embryo. This opinion differs slightly, and perhaps significantly, from the opinion of Galen, who believes that each of the two varieties of seed has both a binding power and the ability to bind. This does not prevent him from saying that the binding power is greater in the male seed, and the binding power is stronger in the female seed.

As for the study of opinions on this matter, it is found in our books on the basic sciences.

Further, the blood that is released in a woman’s body during menstruation is converted into a nutrient. One part of it turns into something similar to the substance of the seed and the organs arising from it, and becomes food that increases their growth. The other part does not turn into food for other organs, but is suitable for coagulating in the spaces between them and filling empty spaces in the main organs, turning into meat and lard. This blood also has a remainder that is unsuitable for either of these two purposes. It remains in the body until the postpartum period, when nature pushes it out as excess.

When the fetus is born, the blood that its liver produces takes the place of that blood, and from it arises what previously arose from the mother’s blood.

Meat is born from the solid part of the blood, which is condensed by heat and dryness, and lard arises from the watery and oily parts of the blood, which is condensed by cold therefore heat dissolves the lard. If the tissues of those organs which are created from both varieties of seed are separated, they can no longer come together by a real natural union this is only possible for some of them on rare occasions, during childhood. These are, for example, bones and small branches of veins, as opposed to large veins and arteries. When a particle of them disappears, nothing grows in its place this happens, for example, with bones and nerves. And those organs that arose from the blood continue to grow even after damage, their particles connect with their own kind. This is the case with meat, for example. As for the organs born from the blood, in which the power of the seed is still preserved, then, while the time of its connection with the seed remains recent, such organs, in case of death, can grow again, such as teeth in childhood however, when another nature gains power over the blood, these organs do not grow a second time.

We also say: sometimes the beginning of sensation and movement in the sensory and moving organs is located immediately in one nerve, and sometimes this is divided, and the beginning of each force is a separate nerve. And we also say that the films of all the insides, wrapped in film, grow from one or two films lining the inside of the chest or abdomen. As for the organs located in the chest, such as the thoraco-abdominal barrier, veins, arteries, lungs, their films grow from the film lining the inside of the rib, and the films of the organs and vessels located in the abdomen grow from the membrane lining the inside of the abdominal muscles. Further, it must be said that all fleshy organs are either fibrous, such as muscle meat, or have no fibers, such as the liver. All movement is carried out with the help of fibers. The cause of voluntary movements is muscle fibers As for natural movements, such as the movement of the uterus and blood vessels, as well as complex movements, for example, swallowing, they are carried out by special fibers located along, across or obliquely. Longitudinal fibers are used for attraction, compressive fibers that run broadly are used for repulsion, and fibers that run obliquely are used for retention. In organs consisting of one layer, such as veins, these three types of fibers are intertwined, and if the organ consists of two layers, then the transverse fiber is in the outer layer, and both of the others are in the inner. Now: the fibers running lengthwise are more inclined towards the inner surface. They are designed so that the attracting and repulsive fibers are not located together on the contrary, it is most appropriate for the fibers of attraction and retention to be located together everywhere, with the exception of the intestines, since the intestines do not need the ability to hold firmly, but the ability to attract and push out.

We also affirm that the nervous organs surrounding bodies, alien to them in substance, are divided into those that consist of one layer, and those that consist of two layers. Those of them that are created from two layers are created so for the sake of many benefits. One of them is the need to firmly protect the strength of these bodies so that they do not burst due to the strong movement of what is contained in them. These are, for example, arteries. The second utility is related to the need to reliably protect the body enclosed in these organs so that it does not dissolve or come out. Resorption could be feared due to the leakiness of the organ if it consisted of one layer, and exit to the outside would be possible due to the susceptibility of the surrounding organ to rupture for the same reason. Bodies enclosed in organs rich in nerves include, for example, pneuma and blood, which are enclosed in arteries the strength of the arteries must be ensured, because one must be careful that blood and pneuma are not lost pneuma may be lost due to dispersion, and blood due to rupture. This is a great danger.

The third utility is manifested in the fact that since the enclosed organ must carry out drawing and pushing through a strong movement, a special instrument is assigned to each of these movements, and these instruments are not intertwined. This is the case in the stomach and intestines.

The fourth utility is this: when each of the layers of a given organ is intended for a special action and one action is generated by a nature opposite to the other, then it is more expedient to separate them. This is how it is with the stomach. The stomach must have sensation - and sensation is carried out only with the help of a nervous organ - and perform digestion, which occurs only with the help of a fleshy organ. And for each of these functions a special layer is assigned - a nervous layer for sensation and a fleshy layer for digestion. In this case, the inner layer is created nervous, and the outer - fleshy, because the digestive organ must reach the digested food through effort, and not spontaneous meeting, while it cannot be assumed that the sentient will not meet the sensed - I want to say: will not meet through touch.

I also affirm that among the organs there are those that are close in nature to blood, and therefore blood should not, in nourishing them, undergo numerous transformations. Such an organ is, for example, meat. Therefore, there are no cavities or voids created in it in which the incoming nutrient would reside at a time when the meat does not consume it. On the contrary, food turns into meat, being in the same form in which the meat meets it.

And other organs are far from blood by nature, so that blood, turning into these organs, must first undergo a series of gradual transformations in order to become similar to their substance. Such, for example, are bones, which therefore have either one cavity where the nutrient substance is located, at the time when it turns into something homogeneous with the bone - such as, for example, the bone of the leg and forearm - or voids scattered in the bone, such as for example, the lower jaw bone. Organs that are constructed in this way must take in more food than is needed at a given time, so that they can transform it into a substance homogeneous with themselves, part by part. Strong organs push their surplus to neighboring weak organs. So, the heart pushes the excess to the armpits, the brain to what lies behind the ears, and the liver to the groins.