The first are called Sphaenopharingians They derive their origine from within the sharp Apophyses of the Os Sphaenoides and are obliquely inserted in the sides of the Pharinx which they open by drawing it upwards The second are the Stilopharingians They arise from the extremity of the Apophyses Stiloides of the Bones of the Temples and are inserted into the sides of the Pharinx which they dilate by drawing its sides to the right and left Hand The third are the Cephalopharingians They derive their Origine from the Articulation of the Head with the first Vertebra and spread their Fibres into the substance of the Pharinx which they shut by the shortning of their Fibres Moreover the Oesophagus extends its self in a straight line from the Pharinx to the Stomach It is composed of three Coats which may be called the inner the middle and the outer Coat The inner is made up of nothing but Tendinous Fibres diversly interlaced The middle is made up of Carneous Fibres of which they reckon two Orders both in Men and in other Animals In Men the Fibres of the first Order reach alongst from the Pharinx to the Stomach for which cause they are named Longitudinal Fibres and those of the second Order are like to so many little Circles which do encircle the Oesophagus above which the Longitudinals are placed They are called Circular In Animals which eat with the Head downward they have another Position The two Orders of Fibres go spirally round about the Oesophagus And for as much as the one go from the right to the left whilst the others pass from the left to the right they do in many places pass one above another There is somewhat singular in this passing to wit That the Fibres which pass in one place above others do go under them at the next rencounter at the second they ascend above And in fine they pass again under them The outer Coat is composed of Tendinous Fibres more subtil and slender than those of the Inner The inner and outer Coat serve for Tendons to the middle So that we may consider the Oesophagus as a Muscle whose inner Coat is the Head the middle the Belly and the outer Coat the Tail So that in Men the Oesophagus is shortned by the swelling of the Longitudinal Fibres And it is straitned by the shortning of the Circular They call that shortning and this contraction of the Oesophagus its Peristaltique Motion In Beasts the shortning and contraction of the Oesophagus is much greater than in Men for that the Musculous Fibres descend spirally and do cross one another For when they swell and by consequent are shortned whilest they thereby shorten the Oesophagus they make its Cavity less because by their Action they wreath it This Peristaltick motion is made to the end that what has once past the Pharinx may not stop in the Cavity of the Oesophagus So that we may well affirm that the Oesophagus is fram'd after this manner to thrust the Meat forward by its Peristaltick motion even into the Stomach In Beasts the Peristaltick motion of the Oesophagus straitens its Cavity much more than in Men for that they Eat ordinarly with their Head downward There is therefore more force needful to make the Meat ascend through the Oesophagus that it may go into the Stomach In fine this Peristaltick motion is called Vermicular because the Oesophagus moves as Worms do by straitning and shortning its self in one place and swelling in another which is continued from one of its ends even to the other by Undulation The cause of this may be that the Filaments of the Nerves do enter obliquely into the Tendinous Fibres of the Coats For as soon as the Animal Spirits were entered into one Fibre they would be shut up by blowing up the end of the Nervous Filament from whence they come And so shutting the door upon others they would hinder more from flowing in till the Fibres were restored to their former Estate by the force of their spring And in as much as the Longitudinal Fibres are all of a piece and the circular ones communicate all together by the small Tendinous Fibres the animal Spirits passing farther into the Longitudinals and runing into the neighbour circular ones they would produce there the same effect which they had done in the former So that continuing to run thus from the one end of the Oesophagus to the other they would produce a Vermicular or Undulating motion by which one place becomes more straitned and shortned then is restored into its former estate whilest this straitning and shortning descends farther and so of the rest The tenth Discourse Of the Stomach and of Chylification THe Oesophagus is inserted into a kind of bag made almost like a Bag-pipe and this they call the Stomach It is short and open at both ends The place where the Oesophagus joyns it is on the left side they call it the upper Orifice of the Stomach and the other place where it is open which is on the right is called the Pylorus The inner Coat of the Oesophagus lyes within close about the upper orifice for the space of three inches Wee find that the Stomach is made up of three Coats the outer and inner are woven of Tendinous Fibres and the middle is made of Carneous Fibres All between the inner Tunicle and the middle is replenisht with small Vesicular Glandules Their Excretory Vessels peirce the inner Tunicle form in its Cavity a small down for which they call it the Velvet Tunicle When wee examine the Composition of the middle Coat we find ordinarly three orders of Fibres in Beasts and two in Men. The first is nothing but the continuation of the Longitudinal Fibres of the Oesophagus which extend themselves from the upper Orifice of the Stomach even to the Pylorus And the other is nothing but the Continuation of the Circular Fibres of the Oesophagus which are cut by the Longitudinals at right Angles Thus it is that they are in men In Dogs Cats c. Besides these two orders of Longitudinal and Circular Fibres there are two handfuls of Fibres extremely close which extend themselves to the right and left above the Stomach from its upper Orifice even to the Pilorus They are nothing but the Spiral Fibres of the Oesophagus which are separated into two handfuls at the upper Orifice and parting the one from the other they pass alongst above the Stomach and are reunited at the Pylorus All these different orders of Fibres are made to produce a Peristaltick motion in the Stomach It is by the means of this motion that the Aliments which enter into the Stomach by its upper Orifice are sent out by the Pylorus Morover the Stomach receives Arteries from the Caeliack sends Veins to the Splenick and to the Vena Porta the Parvagum does furnish it two branches of Nerves considerable enough and many Nervous Filaments come from the Mesenterical Plexus and in
fine it gives rise to some Lymphatick Vessels which go into the Reservatory of the Chyle There would be nothing more to be said of the Stomach if we did not observe that the Aliments contract a considerable change during the stay they make there In effect it is observed that they become Liquid and of a whitish colour This Liquor is called the Chyle and the action that produced it is nam'd Chylification To begin to examine the nature of Chylification I observe that it produceth fluidity in the Aliments which were solid Wee have learned in the Physicks that Fluidity consists in the division and various motion of the Particles of fluid Bodies So that by Chylification the parts of the Aliments must be separated from one another and diversly moved This separation of the parts of the Aliments cannot be done but by bruising or by Fermentation We know nothing in the Stomach that can so perfectly break and grind the Aliments as is needfull to change them into Chyle We must conclude then that this Separation of the parts of the Aliments is made by Fermentation We have remarked in our Discourse of the Elements of the living Body that Fermentation is not made but by the mixture of two Bodies of a different nature and that it is done for the most part by the mixture of Acids and Alcalies Nevertheless since Alcalies are needful to dissolve Sulphurs Phlegmes to dissolve Salts and Acids to dissolve Alcalies we cannot affirm that the Ferment which by its mixture makes the dissolution of the Aliments in the Stomach is only an Acid an Alcali or a Phlemge seing by Chylification both Salts Sulphurs and Alcalies are dissolved But the Ferment must be composed of Principles capable of making a Fermentation which dissolves Sulphurs Alcalies and Salts And since we have establish'd that Alcalies dissolve Sulphurs Acids Alcalies and Phlegmes Salts we must of necessity conclude that the Ferment of Chylification is a composure of Acid Alcali and Phlegme If the Ferment of the Stomach be such as soon as the Elements shall begin to mingle with it its Acids will act upon their Alcalies and by the Fermentation which they shall excite with them will begin to dissolve the whole Masse of the Aliments The Alcalies of the Ferment coming afterwards to pass amongst the Sulphureous parts of the Aliment will keep them separated from one another And in fine the Phlegmes after having dissolved the Salts will find place amongst all the parts of the Aliments whose union will be broken by the Action of the Acids and Alcalies Some difficulty may be raised upon what we have said that the Ferment of the Stomach was composed of Acid and Alcali for that these two Principles cannot subsist together without a Fermentation which would change them immediately into Salt But if we consider that certain Acids may have their Angles very pointed and the sides of thess Angles very slender and that the Pores of an Alcali may be large enough to let the Aetherial matter pass through though an Angle of these Acids be thrust in there we will easily comprehend after what manner an Acid may be mingled with an Alcalie without exciting Fermentation and without uniting closely with it For in this case there will be Intervals large enough between the Concavity of the Pores of the Alcalies and the sides of the points of the Acids which are placed there to give passage to the matter which flows through their Pores And since it is the obstacle which this Aetherial matter meets with in its passage which makes it separate the parts of Bodies it is clear that it needs not here produce any Fermentation When therefore the Aliments descend into the Stomach by their weight the press the small Glandules which are placed between its inner and middle Coats Since they are nothing but little Vesicles so soon as they are prest they empty themselves and Distil into the Cavity of the Stomach a sufficient dew of Ferment which mingles with what is found there Ferments it dissolves it and makes it Liquid That which is Liquified gets above and obeying the Peristaltique motion of the Stomach goes out by the Pylorus So long as this Fermentation lasts there goes away alwayes somewhat of this sort and when it is finished the Animal must eat or he is exposed to hunger which proceeds from this that the Ferment being altogether pure in the Stomach it frets the inward Tunicle The Ferment of the Aliments does never entirely dissolve the parts there are alwayes some of them which escape it This is the Cause that the Chyle is not to be met with at the going out of the Stomach and that it is mingled with many gross and useless parts It is for this reason that nature has made the Chyle to pass through a long Pipe of Intestins in which it is mingled in divers places with different Liquors which serve to separate what is good from what might be hurtful to the conservation of the living Body The Eleventh Discourse Of the Intestines THe Chyle in going out of the Stomach passes into a Conduit join'd to the Pylorus which is called the Guts or Intestines This Conduit makes many Circumvolutions And in fine after having made many windings terminates in the Fundament They divide them into six parts to which they give different Names The first which they call the Duodenum begins at the Pylorus and ends at a place where a yellowish and oleous Liquor is discharged into the Cavity of the Intestines It is ordinarly replenished with the Chyle such as it comes from the Stomach The second which is usually found almost empty is called Intestinum Jejunum It begins at the end of the Duodenum and ends at the places where we begin to find Excrements They give it the length of ten or twelve Palms The third is called the Ilium It begins at the end of the Jejunum and ends at th small end of a Gut which is fastned unto the Cavity of the rest like the bottom of a Sack Hitherto the Intestines are very delicate and their Cavity small enough And it is for this they are called the small Intestines The fourth is called the Caecum which is the small end of a Gut fastned to the rest of which we have made mention The fifth is called the Colum. It begins at the Caecum and makes a great Circuit about the other Guts We find at its entry a Membranous folding whis is so framed that it permits the Excrements to pass easily from the Ilium to the Colum but does not suffer them to pass without difficulty from the Colum to the Ilium The Cavity of the Colum is all divided into little Cells and it ends at the place where the rest of the Guts goes straight to the Fundament This makes the sixth Intestine which is called Rectum The Caecum the Colum and the Rectum are called the Great Intestines because their Coats are stronger and grosser than those of
Fibres are not blown up but by them it is clear that if their course beâ—â— interrupted that they cannot flow into their Cavity they cannot dilate them Experience confirms this in that if you cut or tie a Nerve with a threed the Muscle which receives branches from it becomes flaccid and do what you will its Fibres do not swell The second thing needfull for the blowing up of the Fibres is the free course of the Blood through the Arteries and Veins of the Muscles For since the Tendinous Fibres cannot be dilated without straitning the Arteries and Veins and the Arteries and Veins cannot be straitned without voiding the Blood that fills them it is visible that if the Blood stop there it will hinder the Tendinous Fibres from being blown up This is so true that if you take a living Animal and tie the Aorta four Fingers below the Heart it becomes paralytick from the ligature even to the Extremities of the feet When the Fibres of a Muscle are blown up by the Animal Spirits there are two powers which concur to restore them to their first estate The first is the spring which these Fibres make For since their Pores acquire an disposition by their being blown up the Aetherial matter which does incessantly pass through them makes an effort to restore them to their former estate The second is the Effort of the Arterial Blood which being poussed by the Heart with Vigour blows up again the Arteries and Veins and at the same time straitneth the Tendinous Fibres And as the Arteries empty themselves of Blood when they are straitned by the swellling of the Fibres so the Fibres empty themselves of the Animal Spirits when they are put again into their ordinary state as well by the force of the Arterial Blood as by that of their Spunginess As to the rest the Tendons of the Muscles are ordinarly fastned to some Cartilage or to some bone Which is the Cause why the shortning of the Tendinous Fibres makes that part move to which the Tendons are fastned It is to be remarked likewise that one of the Tendons is fastned to an immovable part and the other to a moveable part from whence it follows that when the Muscle is shortned the moveable part is drawn towards the immovable But for as much as there is not almost any motion in one part which has not its opposite motion so there is not almost any Muscle which has not its opposite Muscle These Muscles which serve thus to make opposite Motions are called Antagonists It is to be observed as to the Antagonist Muscles that when the one is shortned the other is extended For since their action is opposite and that that of the one cannot subsist at the same time with that of the other the shortning of the Muscle which acts must needs produce the extending of its Antagonist But for that the shortning of one Muscle draws the Fibres of its Antagonist beyond their ordinary length they must needs spring back It is for this reason that the action of one Muscle which has been lengthned by the contracting of its Antagonist is done with ease enough For the Tendinous Fibres can be easily contracted again however they have been lengthned though there be few Animal Spirits which flow into their Cavity because the force of the Spirits is augmented by that of the spunginess of the Fibre The sixth Discourse Of the Cartilages Bones and Membranes WE find in the Body of an Animal many parts which seem to partake of the nature of a Bone and of the nature of Tendons in that they are not altogether so hard as the former and are less soft than the other They call them Cartilages The first thing which makes me conjecture that Cartilages are nothing but a composure of Tendinous Fibres which are hardned by being replenisht with Volatile Alcalies is that there is no Cartilage in which many Tendinous Fibres are not lost That which makes my conjecture probable is that we see by the eye that the substance of the Cartilages is nothing but a heap of Fibres And that which puts the thing out of doubt is that in young Animals many parts which were Tendinous become at length Cartilaginous And that we observe frequently in old Animals that certain Tendons are chang'd into Cartilages As Tendons are chang'd at length into Cartilages the Cartilages are likewise changed into Bones If therefore we have concluded the Cartilages were nothing but a composure of Tendinous Fibres for that the Tendons are sometimes chang'd into Cartilages we are obliged by the same reason to judge that Bones are nothing but a Composure of Tendinous Fibres which after having been hardned to become Cartilages are afterwards so far hardned as to make Bones The Observations which are made upon the Bones of Foetus's do demonstrate this Truth to the Eye In effect we observe there a great many Tendinous Fibres and particularly in the Scull It appears in the beginning as if it were nothing but a Membrane compos'd of Tendinous Fibres It becomes afterwards Cartilaginous and in fine is chang'd entirely into Bone After which it cannot be doubted but that Bones are a heap of Tendinous Fibres which are hardned after such a manner that they acquire the firmness of Bone Tendinous Fibres are hardned by being replenisht at length with Volatile Alcalies The Fibres of the Nerves do shed into their Cavity Animal Spirits That which is more subtile of them escapes by the Pores and the grosser remains So that at first these Fibres are filled with Volatile Alcalies and Volatile Sulphurs Whilst there are Sulphurs there they appear under the form of a Cartilage but when the Sulphurs are consumed whether by nourishing the Fibres or by escaping through the Pores or in splitting themselves they appear under the form of Bones From hence it comes that there are no parts in the whole Body of an Animal from whence we extract so much of Volatile calies as from Bones In fine we remark that Bones are all covered over with a Membrane which they call the Periostium This Membrane is so strongly fastned to the Bone that in certain places it is impossible to separate it but by cutting or renting of it When we do examine it narrowly we find three sorts of parts which enter into its composition to wit a great many Tendinous Fibres many branches of Nerves and some Arteries and Veins So that after we have duely considered all we find that the Periostium is nothing else but a Web of Tendinous Fibres of the Bone Nerves Veins and Arteries And because all the other Membranes have communication with the Bones and with the Tendons of Muscles and for that they have Tendinous Fibres Nerves Arteries and Veins we judge that all the Membranes which are observed in a living Body are nothing but a Texture of Tendinous Fibres Arteries Veins and Nerves The seventh Discourse Of the Lymphatick Vessels and of the Lympha IT is found
Carneous Fibres Of these they reckon three Orders The first is of some great Fibres coucht on the fore-part of the Bladder which come in a straight line from its bottom even to its neck The second is of Fibres which do enwrap the Bladder Circularly They may be called Circular Fibres And the third coucht under the Circular is of Fibres which cross the former obliquely going from the left to the right Hand from the bottom of the Bladder even to its neck We shall call them Transverse Fibres In fine the inner Tunicle is composed of Tendinous Fibres of such a Textures as has not been yet discovered When the Bladder is not blown up it is all wrinkled and within it is alwayes covered with a Mucilage At the neck of the Bladder there is a Muscle made of strong and Circular Fibres It is a Sphincter which keeps it alwayes shut From all this we may conclude that the Bladder is a Concave Muscle whose outer and inner Tunicles are Tendons and the middle Tunicle the Belly The Insertion of the Ureters into the Bladder shewes evidently enough that its use is to be the Reservatory of the Urine and that all we have remarked in its frame tends to no other end but to keep the Urine in its Cavity and to thrust it forth when it is therewith filled I say that the Bladder is the Reservatory of the Urine for that the Ureters are inserted into its Cavity after such a manner as that the Urine can easily enter there but cannot return again into the Ureters They creep for some space between the outter and middle Tunicles afterwards they peirce the middle Tunicle and creep a little farther between it and the inner which they peirce towards the neck of the Bladder So the Urine can pass without much difficulty from the Ureters into the Bladder But as the Bladder swells by the abundance of Urine it straittens the ends of the Ureters which creep amongst its Tunicles so that the Urine in the Bladder cannot enter there The Sphincter of the Bladder is the cause that the Urine makes some stay in its Cavity And least in staying there its salts should prick the inner Tunicle nature has conveyed thither the Mucilage which anoints it on all sides The Longitudinal Fibres shorten the Body of the Bladder when the Animal Spirits do contract them The Circular and the Transverse do by their action straitten it So when the Fibres are filled with Spirits the Bladder is Lessened in all respects And if then there be Urine in its Cavity it makes its passage maugre the resistance of the Sphincter and gets out of the Body by a small Pipe which they call the Vrethra This Pipe is nothing but the Continuation of the Inner Tunicle of the Bladder In Women its opening is in the Pudendum and in Men it extends its self into the Body of the Wand and terminates in the end of the Balanus By all that has been said we see that the Reins the Ureters the Bladder and the Vrethra have been made to separate the Urine from the Blood and to convey it out of the Body not only as useless but even as hurtful to the maintaining of the Animal Oeconomie To understand these truths aright it is to be observed that the Urine is almost composed of nothing but Phlegms and Volatile Salts having but very little of Sulphur Earth and fixt Salt The Nitrous Spirit which mingles with the Blood in the Lungs is composed of Acids and Alcalies Its Acids coming to joyn with the Alcalies of the Blood do make a Salt And for that the most part of the Alcaline parts of the Blood are Volatile the Salt which is made of them is also Volatile These Volatile Salts might diminish the natural Fermentation of the Blood and stop its Course To prevent this mischeif the Author of Nature has plac'd the Reins into the Bodies of Animals which do separate these Saline parts from the Masse of the Blood And for that also a too great abundance of Phlegm would make the Blood too slow and hinder the Spirits from acting the Reins do not only separate the Salts but also the Phlegms which are the two Principles whose too great abundance would be capable of chocking the ordinary Fermentation of the Humours upon which the life of Animals depends Moreover it is remarked that when the Urine abounds in Alcalies that is to say when its Salts are not strongly charged with Acids it is thick and troubled And when it has a deal of Acids that is when its Salts are well furnisht with them it is more clear and Transparent And when there is much Salt in a little Phlegm the Urine is of a reddish Colour And when there is much Phlegm and little Salt it is clear and is very near unto the ordinary Colour of Water There is remarked in the Urine a little Cloud which is formed of some parts of the Mucilage which we have said is in the Bladder The Salts of the Urine detatch them by little and little and carry them along with them This Cloud appears when the Urine begins to cool because the coolness doth condense it and by this mean renders it more visible FINIS