Kitap 3
4
Now Erasistratus for some reason declares that it is the contractionsMore exactly peristole; cf. p. 97, note 1. of the stomach which are the cause of everything — that is to say, of the softening of the food,Neuburger says of Erasistratus that dissection had taught him to think in terms of anatomy. It was chiefly the gross movements or structure of organs with which he conerned himself. Wehre an organ had no obvious function, he dubbed it useles; e.g. the spleen (cf. p. 143). the removal of waste matter, and the absorption of the food when chylified [emulsified].
4
Now I have personally, on countless occasions, divided the peritoneum of a still living animal and have always found all the intestines contracting peristalticallyi.e.. contracting and dilating; no longitudinal movements involved; cf. p. 263, note 2. upon their contents. The condition of the stomach, however, is found less simple; as regards the substances freshly swallowed, it had grasped these accurately both above and below, in fact at every point, and was as devoid of movement as though it had grown round and become united with the food.cf. p. 282, note 1. At the same time I found the pylorus persistently closed and accurately shut, like the os uteri on the foetus.
4
In the cases, however, where digestion had been completed the pylorus had opened, and the stomach was undergoing peristaltic movements, similar to those of the intestines.
PART 5
