Page:Batman upon Bartolome.djvu/146
hole of the botch broken vaniſheth eaſely away: and therefore it ſufficeth not to temper the heate of the heart, but oft for ſcarcitie of aire drawen in, the heart it ſelfe fainteth and dyeth. Alſo libr.13. Ariſtotle ſaith, that if a beaſt draweth breath in and out, while that he eateth, and ſo ſome part of the meate falleth into the hollowneſſe of the pipes of the lunges, then the beaſt cougheth, and ſometime by miſhappe is ſtrangeled and choaked. For coughing is nought els-but mouing of ye vertue of the ſoule to put out ſuperfluities, that be about the inſtruments of the ſpirite, as ſaith Conſtant. Then gather ye by theſe things aforeſayd, that the lunges be the proper inſtrument of the heart, for it cooleth the heart, and by ſubtiltie of his ſubſtaunce chaungeth the ayre, that is drawen in, and maketh it more ſubtill. The lungs ſhapeth the voyce, and ceaſeth neuer of mouing. For it cloſeth it ſelfe and ſpredeth, and kéepeth the aire to helpe the heate in his dennes and holes. And therfore a beaſt may not lyue vnder the water without ſtifling, but as long as hée maye holde in the ayre that is gathered within. The lunges by continuall mouing putte off ayre that is gathered within, either cleanſeth and purgeth it, and miniſtreth continuall and couenable féeding to the vitall ſpirit, and departeth the heart from the inſtruments of féeling, and breedeth fomie humours, and beclyppeth & aide halfe the ſubſtaunce of the heart. And when the lungs be grieued by any occaſion, it ſpeedeth to death ward[1], and letteth and diſquieteth ye workings of the vertue of lyfe. All theſe things ſaith Conſtantine by order.
[2]Next vnto the lunges, is the middreſſe, called Diaphragma, Septū tranſuerſum, and Precordia, it is a thicke ſkinne, which diuideth the vpper part of the body from the neather part, that is to ſay, the heart and lunges from the ſplene and liuer.
¶Of the heart. Cap. 36.
[3]THe heart is tearmed Cor in Latine, and hath that name of Cura, buſines, for therin is all buſineſſe and cauſe of wit and of knowing: and is nigh the lunges to be tempered by remedie of the moyſt lungs, if it be hot with wrathe. The hert is ſet in ye middle of ye body of a beaſt, to giue & to ſende lyfe & mouing to all ye mēbers of ye body, as ſaith Iſid. And Conſtantine ſayth, That the heart is a fleſhie ſubſtaunce, dennie<-- ? -->, hard, hollow, euen, long, and round, and the heart is hollow to kéepe heate, and the heart is the foundation of powres to all the body, and it is dennie and hollow, to moue it ſelfe the more eaſely cloſing and opening: and it is hard, that it be not lightly grieued and hurt: and it is round, to haue therein the more plentie of ſpirits: and it is euenlong, ſhapen as a toppe, to make the working of kinde heate that commeth alwayes into the ſharpe ende, the more ſtrong. And the heart is ſet betwéene the two hollowneſſes of the breaſt, in the middle of the beaſt, that the ſpirite of lyfe may come from the heart, as it were from the middle of the vtter parts of all the body, and the head of the heart that hath the ſharpe ende, is ſet in ye left part of a mans body. And for that the ſharpe ende of the heart, hath moſt ſtrength in that ſide, and the ſpirit of lyfe is therein, therefore in the left arme the pulſe is moſt ſtrongeſt, and the heart lieth toward the left ſide of a man, to temper the coldneſſe of the left ſide by heate of the heart. And the hart hath two hollowneſſes, one in the left ſide, that commeth ſharpe: and one in the right ſide, that is within, and theſe two hollowneſſes be called the celles of the heart[4].
And betwéene theſe two celles, is one hole, that ſome men call a veyne, other, an hollow waye. And this hole is broad afore the right ſide, and ſtraight afore the left ſide. And that is néedfull to make the bloud ſubtill; that commeth from the right wombe to the left, and ſo the ſpirit of lyfe maye be bred the eaſelier in the left wombe. Auguſtine in the booke, De differencia ſpiritus & animae, ſaith, that in the right wombe of the heart is more of bloud than of ſpirite: and in the left wombe the contrary. For there the ſpirite of lyfe is wedde to giue the beaſt