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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
sense_n	animal_n	motion_n	nerve_n	1,659	5	10.9186	5	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A49892	The history of physick, or, An account of the rise and progress of the art, and the several discoveries therein from age to age with remarks on the lives of the most eminent physicians / written originally in French by Daniel Le Clerc, M.D. ; and made English by Dr. Drake and Dr. Baden ; with additional notes and sculptures.; Histoire de la médecine. English	Le Clerc, Daniel, 1652-1728.; Drake, James, 1667-1707.; Baden, Andrew, 1666-1699.	1699 (1699)	Wing L811; ESTC R9369	311,651	430

speak of the Senses and their Organs Of the NERVES If Hippocrates's Anatomy of the Brain be very scanty he has yet less of the Nerves To understand rightly the following Remarks we must take notice that the Greek Anatomists that came after Hippocrates distinguished three sorts of parts which were before confounded the Nerves called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which are the passages of the Animal Spirits which communicates sense and motion to all the parts of the Body the Tendons 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which come from the Muscles and serve to contract or extend the Members and the Ligaments 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which serve peculiarly to strengthen the Articulations of the Bones Hippocrates has given the first of these names indifferently to all the three parts so that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nerve did as well and as often signifie in him a Tendon and a Ligament He seems sometimes to mean by it a Nerve tho' according to Galen Hippocrates uses generally the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in that signification There is a passage in the pre-notions of Cos where he speaks of (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 internal Nerves and slender Nerves by which may be understood the Nerves properly so call'd There is likewise another passage wherein those names seem to be given to the true Nerves (b) Lib. de Oss Nat. The Rise or Origin of these Nerves says Hippocrates is from the back part of the Head continuing along the Spine of the Back to the Ischium whence come the Nerves which go to the Privities to the Thighs the Legs the Feet and the Hands and distribute themselves even to the Arms one part going into the Flesh the other along the Bone (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Perone to the Thumb while it traverses the flesh to the rest of the Fingers It goes also to the Blades of the Shoulders to the Breast and to the Belly through the Bones and through the Ligaments There come also others from the Privities which taking their course by the Anus tend toward the cavity of the Hips proceeding afterwards part upon the upper part of the Thigh and part under the Knees they continue to the Tendon and Bone of the Heel to the Feet and some to the Perone and some others to the Reins Hippocrates seems here to speak of real Nerves yet when he comes in the same Book to assign the use of the Nerves which he designs by the same name he confounds them with the Tendons The Nerves says he serve to bend to contract and extend the Members In this later place the word (d) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nerve may perhaps signifie a Tendon whereas in the former it signifies a Nerve But if Hippocrates knew the Nerves he seems to have been a stranger to their use for in the same passage he gives there the proper Office to the veins By the whole passage we may see what he thought of the uses of some other parts The Bones says he give the form to the Body and support it The Nerves bind contract and extend the Members The flesh and the skin unite all the parts together The veins which are spread thro' the whole body carry (e) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Spirit the flood or facility of flowing and the motion By these veins which carry the Spirit c. we are to understand the Arteries by what has been before observ'd of the Office Hippocrates allots them There is yet another passage in the fourth Book of Diet where he speaks of the passage of the spirits through the veins and through the blood and observes that 't is their natural way Convulsions the Palsie sudden Speechlesness and Vertigoes are there taken notice of as effects of the interception of the spirits in the veins and the Apoplexy seems to be intended by the name of (f) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Interception of the veins See anon the passage at length in the Chapter of Blood-letting As for the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which as we have said generally signify'd a Nerve we must examine the principal passages wherein it is found that we may give the truer judgment of it The following are the most considerable passages We shall first propose one wherein Hippocrates after having laid down some of the Symptoms that accompany a dislocation of the Thigh bone forward adds (g) Lib. de Artic. That in such a dislocation they feel abundance of pain and that there is a suppression of Vrine because the head of that bone presses upon very considerable Nerves so that it causes a Tumour in the Groin Galen upon this passage says (h) In Lib. de Artic. Comment 3. That by these considerable Nerves Hippocrates meant the Nerves which go along with the Vein and Artery thro' the Groin which are call d (i) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 considerable or of great power because they are near the spinal Marrow and come out at the same place with those that go to the bladder Hence it is that the head of the Thigh-bone being displaced this way the bladder it self suffers and such an inflamation arises that no Vrine can pass It sometimes also happens as Galen says That the Vrine is stopp●d with the greatness of the inflamation which reaches to the neck of the bladder and the sphincter Muscle and stops by that means the passage If the suppression of Urine spoken of arises from the compression of the Nerves design'd by Galen we should rather attribute this symptom to a Stupifaction or a sort of Palsie of the bladder than to an inflamation of it an inflamation being not so natural a consequence of the compression of the Nerves as numbness but Hippocrates himself seems to acknowledge that this inflamation is the effect of the pain preceding and this makes me suspect that by these Nerves he meant no more than the Fibrous and Tendinous parts of the Muscles of the bladder or near it We find in the same Book another passage wherein Hippocrates seems to design the Nerves by the name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If you would says he cauterize or burn the skin under the Arm-pits you must take care of going too forward or taking too much for fear of hurting some considerable Nerves which are near the Glands of that part Galen wou'd have it that Hippocrates here points at the Nerves that come from the spinal Marrow to the Arms and indeed it seems as if he cou'd mean nothing else Nevertheless what Hippocrates adds presently after perswades me that he designs nothing but the Tendons of the Muscles which draw the Arm downwards You must know says he that when you have lifted up the Arm very high you cannot lay hold on the skin of the Arm-pit at least not so as to extend it the Arm being lifted up the skin which was under the Arm-pit disappears or can't be pinch'd And you must further take care of the Nerves which in this posture

Flatib all that incommodes Man but this is too general He thought that the blood in good condition nourished and that it was the fountain of the vital heat that it caus'd a fresh colour and good health That the yellow Bile preserv'd the body in its natural state hindering the small Vessels and secret Passages from being stopp'd and keeping open the Drain of the Excrements He thought it actuated the Senses and help'd to the concoction of the Aliment The black Bile was a sort of Ground which serv'd as a support and foundation for other humours The Flegm serv●d to supple and facilitate the motion of the Nerves Membranes Cartilages Joints and Tongue and other Parts Besides the four first qualities which Hippocrates attributed to the Humours as moisture driness heat and cold it is apparent that he believed they had or might have abundance of others which all had their use and were never hurtful but when one prevailed over the rest or was separated from them Take his own words (e) De pris● Med. lib. 2. in the Chapter of Alcmaeon The Ancients says he did not believe that the dry the cold the hot or the moist nor any other like quality incommoded a Man but that whatever exceeded or prevailed of any of these qualities and which Nature cou'd not overcome was that which incommoded the Man and that which they endeavoured to take away or correct so of the sweet the most sweet was the strongest as of the bitter or sowre that which was most bitter and most sowre in short the highest degree of every thing These are says Hippocrates the latest discoveries of the Ancients in the body of Man and which were hurtful There are really in our bodies bitter sweet sowre salt rough and insipid and abundance of others which have different faculties according to their quantity or quality These different qualities are insensible and do not hurt so long as they are in due mixture but if these humours separate and lodge apart then their qualities become at once both sensible and inconvenient From what Hippocrates has here said we may gather that he did not suppose the Matters we have spoken of to act only by what the Philosophers call●d first qualities so far from that that he says a little after That 't is not the hot that is of any mighty power but the sowre the insipid c. whether within a Man or without a Man whether in regard of what he cats or what he drinks or what he applies outwardly in what manner soever concluding that of all the faculties there are none less active than heat and cold What we have said of the separation of the humours from one another relate to what Hippocrates says in divers places that the humours move This motion which is the cause of several distempers expresses sometimes by a term it signifies (f) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 impe●● 〈◊〉 ●●●dine incenli a Fury like that of some Animals that grow Lustful at certain times There are other passages by which Hippocrates seems to impute Diseases (g) Lib. de affect● nib lib 〈◊〉 de Morb. to two of these humours only the Bile and Pituita as they offer'd either in quantity or quality or place But as he speaks elsewhere of two sorts of Bile these two humours may be split into three and with the blood make four (h) Lib. 4. de Morb. In some other passages he adds a fifth which is Water of which he supposes the Spleen to be the Spring as the Liver and the Brain are of the Blood the Bile and the Pituita Some of his Commentators make this Water the same with the Melancholy to which Hippocrates seems to substitute it I cannot see how to reconcile their opinion with the Idea he had of that humour he look'd upon 't as we have said before as a sort of Lee of the rest of the humours which will by no means agree with water Nor are they nearer their point for making two sorts of Melancholy one of which we have been speaking and another which ought rather to be call'd black Bile which is only the yellow Bile turn'd black as he supposed by being over-heated and burnt this having nothing in common with water The only support of the opinion in question is that he says in the same passage that this water is the heaviest of all the humours I see no reason why we shou'd not object that this is another System (i) It is ascrib'd to Polyblus his Son-i●-●aw See Book 4. Ch. 1. since it has been always suspected that Hippocrates was not the Author of that Book This water might be something like what Hippocrates elsewhere calls Ichor by which he meant any sort of clear thin Liquor form'd in the body of a Man whether sound or unsound So he calls by this name what runs from a malignant Vlcer and speaks in several places of sharp and bilious Ichors and burning Ichors (k) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We find yet a third System of the Causes of Diseases in another book Intituled Of Winds or Spirits which is mix●d with the Works of Hippocrates but most suppose it not to be his The Author of this book uses sometimes the word Wind sometimes Spirit with this difference That the latter signifies the Spirits or Air and Wind inclosed in the body but the former the Wind without from whence nevertheless he derives that within by means of the Air drawn by respiration and the Air contain'd in the Food we take This book upon reading seems to be one of the most rational and coherent of all Hippocrates's Works He looks upon the Air and the Spirits to be the true Causes of health and of diseases even in preference to the humours which here are only collateral Causes as the Spirits mix with ' em But this later opinion may be reconcil'd with that which we have before allow'd to be Hippocrates's concerning the effects of the humours only alledging that all that has been attributed to them in relation to health or sickness supposes an impulse of the Spirits as the first movers and that therefore Hippocrates nam'd them as we have said before that which gives the motion There is according to Hippocrates as great a variety of external Causes of health and diseases as there is of things without the body of Man which may act upon him as there is of diversity in his Conduct and of accidents in the course of his Life From this Hypothesis it is plain that Health and Sickness in general depend upon the following Causes On the Air which surrounds us what we eat and drink sleep watching exercise what goes out of our bodies and what is kept in and upon the Passions In this number likewise are rank'd those foreign bodies which occur and are sometimes useful yet may often dissolve cut or break the union of the Parts of ours Poisons and venemous

Guts the Liver the Spleen the Kidneys the Bladder the Matrix the Diaphragm the Heart the Lungs the Brain as well as the most sensible humours such as the Blood Cholar Melancholy Flegm the Serosities or Waters and all the different sort of excrements that proceed from several parts of our body It appears at first Sight that the Asclepiadae cou'd not know all this without being Anatomists or at least without having dissected Animals but 't is easy to demonstrate that they might attain to the knowledge of these things without it The first and most familiar instruction they had came from their Butchers and their Sacrifices and as for what relates to to a human body in particular they were glad of any opportunity to instruct themselves when they found any bones in the Fields that were stript of the Flesh either by Beasts or the length of time that these bodies had been expos'd to the air or when they found in some by places the carcass of some unfortunate Traveller that had been murder'd by Robbers or the bodies of Soldiers that died of the great wounds of they receiv●d in Battel They consider'd them without giving themselves the trouble to make any other Preparation besides what they found ready made to their hands and took no notice of that scruple which forbad them to touch any dead body which they found by accident This was so great a scruple among the Ancients that it appears from a passage in Aristotle which we shall cite hereafter that in his time there was no dissection of human bodies Now this Philosopher liv'd above fourscore years after Hippocrates T is true indeed that the Egyptians as we have already taken notice having been accustomed of old to embalm dead bodies were furnish●d by this means with an opportunity to know the true disposition of some parts of the body which they must needs lay open when they separated them from others to preserve the rest and it might so happen that the Asclepiadae reapt some advantage by these discoveries of the Egyptians but as the chief intention of the latter was the preserving of Bodies so they scarce proceeded much farther than it was necessary for them to go on with their design I have thus recounted the several means by which these ancient Physicians discover'd the structure of bodies after the Death of the animal but the best School they had and indeed that which instructed them better than any of the rest was the Practice of their Professio● which daily gave them an opportunity to see in living bodies what they were not able to discover in the dead when they dress●d Wounds Vlcers Tumours Fractures Dislocations and perform'd other Chyrurgical operations And as Physick was preserv'd in the Family of the Asclepiadae for several Ages where it pass●d from Father to Son so the traditions and observations of their Fathers and Ancestors supply'd the want of experience in each particular man This last opportunity joyn'd with the former has made several Physicians who liv●d a long while after them and of whom we shall make mention hereafter to call it an easie and natural tho a long way to gain the knowledge of the humane Body maintaining that this way alone was sufficient for practice We shall find in the Fifth Book what were the reasons that induc'd them to this as likewise what other Physicians had to say upon this occasion CHAP. VI. Of those Physicians that were Philosophers and first of Pythagoras and Xamolxis his Slave HItherto as we have observ'd it does not appear that Reason had been very much consulted in Physick the whole knowledge of which Art seems to have totally consisted in discerning and knowing Diseases rather by their signs than by their causes and using a few simple Medicaments that were almost all taken from Herbs or the practice of some magical or superstitious Remedies The Philosophers were the first that interloping in this Art at the same time introduc'd the fashion of reasoning into it These Gentlemen added to it that part which is call'd Physiology and considers a humane body which is the subject of Physick such as it is in its natural state and endeavours to assign reasons for its functions and operations in examining the parts thereof and all that belongs to it by Anatomy and the principles of Physick Not that it appears by any of their writings or by the Titles of their Books that they had ever been what we call Practitioners Empedocles of whom we shall talk hereafter is the only man among them who is reported to have perform'd a cure All the rest appear to have devoted themselves rather to the Theory than Practice of Physick Pythagoras who liv'd about the lx Olympiad and founded the Italick School is the most ancient we know of those that began to take this Art into their consideration This Pihlosopher neglected no means nor opportunity to render his knowledge universal With this design he travell'd into Egypt which was the Country of Arts and Sciences and learnt all their curiosities 'T is very probable he borrow'd all the knowledge he had in Physick from thence of which we have nothing remaining but a few small fragments which however sufficiently discover a Spirit of superstition so remarkable in the preceeding Physicians as we have already observ'd that which relates to Physiology being very inconsiderable (a) Diogen Laert. Hist Philos Galen He believ'd that at the time of Conception a certain substance descended from the Brain which contain'd a warm vapour from whence the Soul and all the Senses derived their original while the Flesh the Nerves or Tendons the Bones the Hair and all the Body in general was made of the Blood and other Humours that meet in the Matrix He added that the Body of the Infant was formed and became solid in forty days but that eleven or nine or more generally ten months according to the rules of harmony were requisite to make him intirely compleat that all that happen'd to him during the whole course of his life was then regulated and that he carry'd it along with him in a Series or Chain proportion'd to the Laws of the same harmony above-mention'd every thing falling out afterwards necessarily in its own time At the end of this Chapter we shall examine what he meant by this He likewise asserted that the Veins the Arteries the Nerves are the cords of the Soul According to him the Soul spreads itself from the Heart to the Brain and that part of it which is in the Heart is the same from whence the passions proceed whereas Reason and the Understanding reside in the Brain This opinion which belongs in common to him and the sacred Writers perhaps came first from the Caldeans with whom he had convers'd As for the causes of Distempers he had learnt without question all that was believ'd concerning them in the same School and in that of the Magicians whom he had likewise consulted The Air said

advance and are extended very much which must in no manner be hurt He uses also in this place the same name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The same Book likewise furnishes us with a third passage wherein we meet the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 repeated several times it is in speaking of the Articulations of the Vertebrae but all that he says there seems better explicable of the Ligaments than of the Nerves properly so call'd We find likewise in another (k) De Morb. vulgar lib. 2. sect 4. Book of Hippocrates the following passage There are two Nerves 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which come from the Brain which passing behind the great Vertebrae draw sidewards from above towards the Gullet or Oesophagus and touching the Artery on both sides join again as if there were but one and terminate where the Vertebrae and the Diaphragma take their Origin or are join'd Some have supposed that these Nerves parting in this place tended towards the Liver and towards the Spleen There is another Nerve which proceeds from each side the Vertebrae along the Spine and passing obliquely over the Vertebrae disperses it self into the sides And these Nerves as well as the Veins of which I spoke before seem to traverse the Diaphragm and terminate in the Mesentery These Nerves re-joining again at the place where the Diaphragm takes its Origin and passing through the middle below the Artery return to the Vertebrae and at last lose themselves in the Os Sacrum It is impossible to translate this passage well by reason of its obscurity it is taken from a fragment of Anatomy in the Book before cited which appears to be out of its place having no coherence with any thing either antecedent or consequent yet Galen has commented upon this Book of Hippocrates (l) Comment in lib. de arti● for he relates some of the first words of the passage we have translated which proves that the fragment from whence it was taken was inserted even in his time in the place where we now find it Galen contents himself to insinuate in two words that this passage treats of real Nerves without giving himself the trouble to explain it entire and perceiving that this passage was little for the honour of Hippocrates he goes about to excuse him saying What he writ was only for a (m) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Memorandum for himself and not to treat exactly to the bottom of this matter And to give the more credit to it he adds That the first and third Books of his Epidemicks were the only Books which Hippocrates finished or that he wrote with any design of publishing The passage here meant being taken out of the second which according to Galen was but a sort of Meddly which the Author had not digested this may be so but he ought to have shewn that Hippocrates had elsewhere spoken better or more clearer on this head It is to no purpose to perplex our selves to find in an Author what he has not if we shou'd allow that this ancient Physician and the Asclepiades his predecessors knew or had seen some considerable Trunk of Nerves as it was hard if the practice of Chirurgery gave them no occasion they appear not to have distinguish'd them well from Tendons or Ligaments nor to have known the true use of them (n) See the Chapter of Blood-letting The forecited passage in which Hippocrates assigns to the Veins and Arteries the Office of the Nerves is a convincing proof of his Ignorance on that subject but there cannot be a better proof than we find in the Writings of this Physician and the manner of his reasoning with (o) Vid. lib. ● Alcmaeon and other Philosophers of his time about Hearing Smelling and the rest of the Senses therein we do not see that either one o●t other so much as suspected the share the Nerves have in Sensation Of the Organs of SENSE We have seen before Alcmaeon's Opinion The following descriptions of the Organs of Sense are taken from Hippocrates (a) Lib. de Carn The Ears sa's he have a hole which butts upon a bone as hard and dry as a stone to which is join'd a Fistulous cavity or a sort of passage oblique and narrow at the entry of which there is a Membrane extreamly fine and dry whose driness as well as that of the bone produces the sound the Air being reflected by this bone and by this membrane After which without mentioning the Nerves he endeavours to prove that whatever is dry sounds most In another place he says (b) De Loc. in Hom. That the cavities which are about the Ears are made only for the better hearing of noises and sounds And he adds That whatever comes to the Brain by the Membrane which encompasses it is distinctly heard that for that reason there is but one passage which pierces in this place to the Membrane which is spread over the Brain As for the Smelling he says The brain being moist has the faculty of scenting or smelling by drawing in the odour of dry things with the air which runs a-thwart (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lib. de Carnib 4. certain dry bodies The Brain adds he reaches even into the cavity of the Nose in this place there is no bone between them but only a soft cartilage like a Spunge which can neither be call'd bone nor flesh He describes the Eye after this manner There are says he some small veins extreamly slender which go (d) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 into the sight or eye Lib. de loc in hom into the eye thro' the Membrane which incloses the Brain These veins nourish the sight of the eye with a Liquor extreamly pure which comes from the brain in which the Images of things appear to the eyes the same veins if they dry up extinguish the sight There are also three Membranes which encompass the eye of which the first is the thickest the second is thinner the third is extreamly fine which preserves the liquor or humour of the eye The first being hurt the eye is out of order The second being broken puts it in great danger that it puffs outward like a bladder But the third which preserves the humour is that whose breaking is of worst consequence What follows we find in another (c) Lib. de Carn Book We see for this reason or after this manner vision is made There is a vein which runs from the Membrane of the Brain which passing thro' the bone enters into each eye By these two veins the most subtil part of the viscid humour of the brain distils as it were thro' a Streiner and forms round about it a Membrane like to that which is transparent in the eye which is exposed to the air and winds which is form'd much after the same manner that other Membranes are but there are several Membranes about the eye which are like to that which is transparent within In this

transparent the light and luminous bodies are (f) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 reflected and by this reflection vision is made Vision is not made by what is not Diaphanous and does not reflect The rest of the white about the eye is a sort of flesh and what we call the sight appears black because it is deep The Tunicles which are about it are black for the same reason We call says he a Membrane or Tunicle that which is like a skin which is no way black of it self but white and transparent As for the moisture which is in the eyes it is something viscid for we have sometimes seen after the breaking of the eye that there came out a thick humour which is liquid while it is warm but solid as Incense when it is cold Those that think that Hippocrates knew as much as we do now may say that he called the Optick Nerves veins 'T is true this name signifies variety of things in this Author for he gave it not only to the Arteries but likewise to the Vessels which contained no blood such as the Ureters because they are round long hollow and white like veins He does indeed sometimes distinguish certain veins by the Epithet of (g) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 veins that hold blood but 't is not in opposition to the Nerves but to certain Vessels which he calls (h) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lib de Ossium Nat. veins that are very slender and contain but little blood He talks also of a Nerve full of blood which according to Erotian shou'd be a vein tho' others understand by it the Panniculus Carnosus A learned Interpreter of Hippocrates pretends that he gave to some veins the Epithet of hollow to distinguish them from veins that were (i) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vid. Foesii O●comom Hipp●c invoce 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 solid but I find not this later word in Hippocrates tho the hollow veins there cited might be meant of the veins and arteries in general which are both hollow Vessels The same Interpreter says elsewhere (k) Id. in voce 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that Hippocrates in one place comprehends under the name of Veins Nerves Tendons and Ligaments which he appears not to me to prove Rusus Ephesius tells us That the most ancient Greeks call the Arteries Nerves if it be true that Hippocrates called the Optick Nerves veins he ought to have said that the Ancients reciprocally called the Nerves by the names of Arteries and Veins All that we can gather from all this is that the inaccurateness of Hippocrates and other Authors of those Times in distinguishing different Vessels by different names shews that they had but a very superficial knowledge of them Perhaps the word (l) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vein was a term as general amongst them as (m) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that of Vessel amongst the Anatomists since which signifies indifferently a Vein Artery or Nerve or even the Vreters or any other parts that serve for the conveyance of Liquors or Spirits If it were so the Ancients run no risque when they call all the Vessels veins without distinction Of the FIBRES Before we quit the Nerves we must examine the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whose plural makes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by which it is pretended that Hippocrates signify'd equally a Fibre and a Nerve Some says Erotian will have this word to signifie a Nerve others explain it only of the Fibres whereof the Nerves are composed The Greek Authors that have written of Plants have call'd by this name the Nerves or Strings which appear on the back of Leaves and the strings at the end of Roots The Anatomists have given the same name to the small strings which are in the flesh and other parts and the Latins have translated it Fibrae Hippocrates has undeniably used the word in that sense as when he observes that the Spleen is full of strings or fibres He takes notice also of the Fibres in the blood but it is pretended likewise that he signified the Nerves by it To prove it a passage is cited where he says (a) De Ossi●m Natur. That the heart has Nerves or Fibres which come from all the Body He uses there the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we find no where else but Foesius reads 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This latter word may as well be rendred Fibre as Nerve that which inclines us to the later signification is what he adds as a proof That the Seat of Thought is rather about the Thorax than any other place of the body because this agrees with the opinion of those who bring the Nerves from the Heart as we shall see hereafter But perhaps neither the common reading nor that of Foesius are true And we ought to read with Cornarius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 habenas the Reins changing one letter it alters not the pronunciation This Author translates this passage thus The Heart is situated as in the Streights of a passage that it may hold the Reins for the guidance of the whole Body For this reason Thought has its Seat about the Thorax or Breast rather than any other part The changes of colour also are produced by the opening and shutting of the veins by the Heart when it opens them it looks fresh and lively when it shuts them we become pale and wan Of the MUSCLES There is little more to be found in Hippocrates concerning their Muscles than their name The following passage is the first that takes notice of them (a) Lib. de Arte. The parts whose flesh is turn'd round which is what we call a (b) Mūs Muscle have all a belly or a cavity (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For all that is not composed of parts of a different nature whether it be covered with a Membrane or whether the flesh covers it all that is hollow and while it is well it is full of spirit but when it is diseased it is fill●d with a sort of water or corrupted blood The Arms have flesh of this sort the Thighs and the Legs the same as well as the most meagre and fleshless parts We find in another place the word (d) De Off. Nat. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which can be nothing but an Adjective to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is understood 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Musculi adductores or adstrictores The Muscles which serve to draw back or gather together He speaks there of the Anus I know not whether there be any other particular wherein the action of the Muscle is touch'd As for the names the succeeding Anatomists distinguish'd the Muscles he has spoken in one place of the Muscle call'd (e) Lib de Artic Psoas Of the Oesophagus of the Stomach or Ventricle and of the Guts (a) Lib. de Anatom The Oesophagus according to Hippocrates is a Tunnel which reaches from the Tongue to the Stomach which is the