 Part 4 of Timaeus. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org, recording by Anna Simon. Timaeus by Plato, translated by Benjamin Joett. Part 4. Timaeus continues. Thus far in what we've been saying, with small exception, the works of intelligence have been set forth, and now we must place by the side of them, in our discourse, the things which come into being through necessity, for the creation is mixed, being made up of necessity and mind. Mind, the ruling power, persuaded necessity to bring the greater part of the created things to perfection, and thus, and after this manner, in the beginning, when the influence of reason got the better of necessity, the universe was created. But if a person will truly tell of the way in which the work was accomplished, he must include the other influence of the variable cause as well. Wherefore, we must return again, and find another suitable beginning, as about the former matters, so also about these. To which end, we must consider the nature of fire and water and air and earth, such as they were prior to the creation of the heaven, and what was happening to them in this previous state. For no one has as yet explained the manner of their generation, but we speak of fire and the rest of them, whatever they mean, as though men knew their natures, and we maintain them to be the first principles and letters or elements of the whole, and they cannot reasonably be compared by a man of any sense, even to syllables or first compounds. And let me say thus much, I will not now speak of the first principle or principles of all things, or by whatever name there are to be called, for this reason, because it is difficult to set forth my opinion according to the method of discussion which we are at present employing. Do not imagine, any more than I can bring myself to imagine, that I should be right in undertaking so great and difficult a task. Remembering what I said at first about probability, I will do my best to give as probable an explanation as any other, or rather more probable, and I will first go back to the beginning and try to speak of each thing and of all. Once more then, at the commencement of my discourse, I call upon God, and beg him to be our saviour out of a strange and unwanted enquiry, and to bring us to the haven of probability. So now let us begin again. This new beginning of our discussion of the universe requires a fuller division than the former. For then we made two classes, now a third must be revealed. The two surfaced for the former discussion, one which we assumed was a pattern intelligible and always the same, and the second was only the imitation of the pattern, generated and visible. There is also a third kind which we did not distinguish at the time, conceiving that the two would be enough. But now the argument seems to require that we should set forth in words another kind, which is difficult of explanation and dimly seen. What nature are we to attribute to this new kind of being? We reply that it is the receptacle, and in the manner the nurse of all generation. I have spoken the truth, but I must express myself in clearer language, and this will be an arduous task for many reasons, and in particular because I must first raise questions concerning fire and the other elements, and determine what each of them is. For to say with any probability or certitude which of them should be called water rather than fire, and which should be called any of them rather than all or some one of them is a difficult matter. How then shall we settle this point, and what questions about the elements may be fairly raised? In the first place we see that what we just now called water by condensation I suppose becomes stone and earth, and this same element, when melted and dispersed, passes into vapor and air. Air again, when inflamed, becomes fire, and again fire, when condensed and extinguished, passes once more into the form of air, and once more air, when collected and condensed, produces cloud and mist, and from these, when still more compressed, comes flowing water, and from water comes earth and stones once more, and thus generation appears to be transmitted from one to the other in a circle. Thus then, as the several elements never present themselves in the same form, how can anyone have the assurance to assert positively that any of them, whatever it may be, is one thing rather than another? No one can, but much the safest plan is to speak of them as follows. Anything which we see to be continually changing, as for example, fire, we must not call this or that, but rather say that it is of such a nature, nor let us speak of water as this, but always as such. Nor must we imply that there is any stability in any of those things which we indicate by the use of the words this and that, supposing ourselves to signify something thereby, for they are too volatile to be detained in any such expressions as this or that, or relative to this, or any other mode of speaking which represents them as permanent. We ought not to apply this to any of them, but rather the word such, which expresses the similar principles circulating in each and all of them. For example, that should be called fire, which is of such a nature always, and so of everything that has generation. That in which the elements severally grow up and appear and decay is alone to be called by the name this or that, but that which is of a certain nature, hot or white, or anything which admits of opposite qualities, and all things that are compounded of them ought not to be so denominated. Let me make another attempt to explain my meaning more clearly. Suppose a person to make all kinds of figures of gold and to be always transmuting one form into all the rest. Somebody points to one of them and asks what it is. By far the safest and truest answer is that is gold, and not to call the triangle or any other figures which are formed in the gold these, as though they had existence, since they are in process of change while he is making the assertion. But if the questioner be willing to take the safe and indefinite expression such we should be satisfied, and the same argument applies to the universal nature which receives all bodies. That must be always called the same. For while receiving all things she never departs at all from her own nature, and never in any way or at any time assumes a form like that of any of the things which enter into her. She is the natural recipient of all impressions, and is turned and informed by them, and appears different from time to time by reason of them. But the forms which enter into and go out of her are the likenesses of real existences modeled after their patterns in a wonderful and inexplicable manner which we will hear after investigate. For the present we have only to conceive of three natures. First, that which is in process of generation. Secondly, that in which the generation takes place. And thirdly, that of which the thing generated is a resemblance. And we may liken the receiving principle to a mother, and the soul so as spring to a father, and the intermediate nature to a child, and may remark further that if the model is to take every variety of form, then the matter in which the model is fashioned will not be duly prepared unless it is formless and free from the impress of any of those shapes which it is her after to receive from without. For if the matter were like any of the supervening forms, then whenever any opposite or entirely different nature was stamped upon its surface it would take the impression badly because it would intrude its own shape. Wherefore, that which is to receive all forms should have no form. As in making perfumes they first contrive that the liquid substance which is to receive the scent shall be as in odorous as possible. Or as those who wish to impress figures on soft substances do not allow any previous impression to remain but begin by making the service as even and smooth as possible. In the same way, that which is to receive perpetually and through its whole extent the resemblances of all eternal beings ought to be devoid of any particular form. Wherefore, the mother and receptacle of all created invisible and in any way sensible things is not to be termed earth or air or fire or water or any of their compounds or any of the elements from which these are derived but is an invisible and formless being which receives all things and in some mysterious way partakes of the intelligible and is most incomprehensible. In saying this we shall not be far wrong as far however as we can attain to a knowledge of her from the previous considerations we may truly say that fire is that part of her nature which from time to time is inflamed and water that which is moistened and that the mother substance becomes earth and air insofar as she receives the impressions of them. Let us consider this question more precisely. Is there any self-existent fire and do all those things which we call self-existent exist? Or are only those things which we see or in some way perceive through the bodily organs truly existent and nothing whatever besides them? And is all that which we call an intelligible essence nothing at all and only a name? Here is a question which we must not leave unexamined or undetermined nor must we affirm too confidently that there can be no decision. Neither must we interpolate in our present long discourse a digression equally long but if it is possible to set forth a great principle in a few words that is just what we want. Thus I state my view. If mind and true opinion are two distinct classes then I say that there certainly are these self-existent ideas unperceived by sense and apprehended only by the mind. If however as some say true opinion differs in no respect from mind then everything that we perceive through the body is to be regarded as most real and certain. But we must affirm them to be distinct for they have a distinct origin and are of a different nature. The one is implanted in us by instruction, the other by persuasion. The one is always accompanied by true reason, the other is without reason. The one cannot be overcome by persuasion but the other can. And lastly every man may be said to share in true opinion but mind is the attribute of the gods and a very few men. Wherefore also we must acknowledge that there is one kind of being which is always the same, uncreated and indestructible, never receiving anything into itself from without nor itself going out to any other but invisible and imperceptible by any sense and of which the contemplation is granted to intelligence only. And there is another nature of the same name with it and like to it, perceived by sense, created, always in motion, becoming in place and again vanishing out of place which is apprehended by opinion and sense. And there is a third nature which is space and is eternal and admits not of destruction and provides a home for all created things and is apprehended without the help of sense by a kind of spurious reason and is hardly real, which we beholding as in a dream say of all existence that it must of necessity be in some place and occupy space, but that what is neither in heaven nor in earth has no existence. Of these and other things of the same kind relating to the true and waking reality of the nature we have only this dreamlike sense and we are unable to cast off sleep and determine the truth about them. For an image, since the reality after which it is modeled does not belong to it and it exists ever as the fleeting shadow of some other, must be inferred to be in another, that is in space, grasping existence in some way or other or it could not be at all. But true and exact reason vindicating the nature of true being maintains that while two things that is the image and space are different they cannot exist one of them in the other and so be one and also two at the same time. Thus have I concisely given the result of my thoughts and my verdict is that being and space and generation these three existed in their three ways before the heaven and that the nerves of generation moistened by water and inflamed by fire and receiving the forms of earth and air and experiencing all the affections which accompany these presented a strange variety of appearances and being full of powers which were neither similar nor equally balanced was never in any part in a state of equipoise but swaying unevenly hither and thither was shaken by them and by its motion again shook them and the elements when moved were separated and carried continually some one way some another as when grain is shaken and winnowed by fans and other instruments used in the threshing of corn the clothes and heavy particles are borne away and settle in one direction and the loose and light particles in another in this manner the four kinds or elements were then shaken by the receiving vessel which moving like a winnowing machine scattered far away from one another the elements most unlike and forced the most similar elements into close contact where for also the various elements had different places before they were arranged so as to form the universe at first they were all without reason and measure but when the world began to get into order fire and water and earth and air had only certain faint traces of themselves and were all together such as everything might be expected to be in the absence of God this I say was their nature at that time and God fashioned them by form and number let it be consistently maintained by us in all that we say that God made them as far as possible the fairest and best out of things which were not fair and good and now I will endeavor to show you the disposition and generation of them by an unaccustomed argument which I'm compelled to use but I believe that you will be able to follow me for your education has made you familiar with the methods of science in the first place then as is evident to all fire and earth and water and air are bodies and every sort of body possesses solidity and every solid must necessarily be contained in planes and every plane rectilinear figure is composed of triangles and all triangles are originally of two kinds both of which are made up of one right and two acute angles one of them has at either end of the base the half of a divided right angle having equal sides while on the other the right angle is divided into unequal parts having unequal sides these then proceeding by a combination of probability with demonstration we assume to be the original elements of fire and the other bodies but the principles which are prior to these god only knows and he of men who is the friend of god and next we have to determine what are the four most beautiful bodies which are unlike one another and of which some are capable of resolution into one another for having discovered this much we shall know the true origin of earth and fire and of the proportionate and intermediate elements and then we shall not be willing to allow that there are any distinct kinds of visible bodies fairer than these therefore we must endeavor to construct the four forms of bodies which excel in beauty and then we shall be able to say that we have sufficiently apprehended their nature now of the two triangles the isosceles has one form only the scalene or unequal sided as an infinite number of the infinite forms we must select the most beautiful if we are to proceed in due order and anyone who can point out a more beautiful form than ours for the construction of these bodies shall carry off the palm not as an enemy but as a friend now the one which we maintain to be the most beautiful of all the many triangles and we need not speak of the others is that of which the double forms a third triangle which is equilateral the reason of this would be along to tell he who disproves what we are saying and shows that we are mistaken may claim a friendly victory then let us choose two triangles out of which fire and the other elements have been constructed one isosceles the other having the square of the longer side equal to three times the square of the lesser side now is the time to explain what was before obscurity said there was an error in imagining that all the four elements might be generated by and into one another this I say was an erroneous supposition for there are generated from the triangles which have selected four kinds three from the one which has the sides unequal the fourth alone is framed out of the isosceles triangle hence they cannot all be resolved into one another a great number of small bodies being combined into a few large ones or the converse but three of them can be thus resolved and compounded for they all spring from one and when the greater bodies are broken up many small bodies will spring up out of them and take their own proper figures or again when many small bodies are dissolved into their triangles if they become one they will form one large mass of another kind so much for their passage into one another I have now to speak of their several kinds and show out of what combinations of numbers each of them was formed the first will be the simplest and smallest construction and its element is that triangle which has its hypotenuse twice the lesser side when two such triangles are joined at the diagonal and this is repeated three times and the triangles read the diagonals and shorter sides on the same point as a center a single equilateral triangle is formed out of six triangles and four equilateral triangles if put together make out of every three plane angles one solid angle being that which is nearest to the most obtuse of plane angles and out of the combination of these four angles arises the first solid form which distributes into equal and similar parts the whole circle in which it is inscribed the second species of solid is formed out of the same triangles which unite as eight equilateral triangles and form one solid angle out of four plane angles and out of six such angles the second body is completed and the third body is made up of 120 triangular elements forming 12 solid angles each of them included in five plane equilateral triangles having altogether 20 bases each of which is an equilateral triangle the one element that is the triangle which has its hypotenuse twice the lesser side having generated these figures generated no more but the isosceles triangle produced the fourth elementary figure which is compounded of four such triangles joining their right angles in a center and forming one equilateral quadrangle six of these united form eight solid angles each of which is made by the combination of three plane right angles the figure of the body thus composed is a cube having six plane quadrangular equilateral bases there was yet a fifth combination which got used in the delineation of the universe now he who duly reflecting on all this inquires whether the worlds are to be regarded as indefinite or definite in number will be of opinion that the notion of their indefiniteness is characteristic of a sadly indefinite and ignorant mind he however who raises the question whether they are to be truly regarded as one or five takes up a more reasonable position arguing from probabilities i am of opinion that they are one another regarding the question from another point of view will be of another mind but leaving this inquiry let us proceed to distribute the elementary forms which have now been created in idea among the four elements to earth then let us assign the cubicle form for earth is the most immovable of the four and the most plastic of all bodies and that which has the most stable basis must of necessity be of such a nature now of the triangles which you assumed at first that which has two equal sides is by nature more firmly based than that which has unequal sides and of the compound figures which are formed out of either the plain equilateral quarter angle has necessarily a more stable base than the equilateral triangle both in the whole and in the parts where for in assigning this figure to earth we adhere to probability and to water we assign that one of the remaining forms which is the least movable and the most movable of them to fire and to air that which is intermediate also we assign the smallest body to fire and the greatest to water and the intermediate in size to air and again the cutest body to fire and the next in acuteness to air and the third to water of all these elements that which has the fewest basis must necessarily be the most movable for it must be the cutest and most penetrating in every way and also the lightest as being composed of the smallest number of similar particles and the second body have similar properties in a second degree and the third body in the third degree let it be agreed then both according to strict reason and according to probability that the pyramid is the solid which is the original element and seed of fire and let us assign the element which was next in the order of generation to air and the third to water we must imagine all these to be so small that no single particle of any of the four kinds is seen by us on account of their smallness but when many of them are collected together the aggregates are seen and the ratios of their numbers motions and other properties everywhere god as far as necessity allowed or gave consent as exactly perfected and harmonized in due proportion from all that we have just been saying about the elements or kinds the most probable conclusion is as follows earth when meeting with fire and dissolved by its sharpness whether the dissolution take place in the fire itself or perhaps in some mass of air or water is born hither and thither until its parts meeting together and mutually harmonizing again become earth for they can never take any other form but water when divided by fire or by air on reforming may become one part fire and two parts air at a single volume of air divided becomes to a fire again when a small body of fire is contained in a larger body of air or water or earth and both are moving and the fire struggling is overcome and broken up then two volumes of fire form one volume of air and when air is overcome and cut up into small pieces two and a half parts of air are condensed into one part of water let us consider the matter in another way when one of the other elements is fastened upon by fire and is cut by the sharpness of its angles inside it coalesces the fire and then ceases to be cut by them any longer for no element which is one and the same with itself can be changed by or change another of the same kind and in the same state but so long as in the process of transition the weaker is fighting against the stronger the dissolution continues again when a few small particles enclosed in many larger ones are in process of decomposition and extinction they only seize from their tendency to extinction when they consent to pass into the conquering nature and fire becomes air and air water but if bodies of another kind go and attack them that is the small particles the latter continue to be dissolved until being completely forced back and dispersed they make their escape to their own kindred or else being overcome and assimilated to the conquering power they remain where they are and dwell with their victors and from being many become one and owing to these affections all things are changing in their place for by the motion of the receiving vessel the bulk of each class is distributed into its proper place but those things which become unlike themselves and like other things are hurried by the shaking into the place of the things to which they grow like now all unmixed and primary bodies are produced by such causes as these as to the subordinate species which are included in the greater kinds they are to be attributed to the varieties in the structure of the two original triangles for either structure did not originally produce the triangle of one size only but some larger and some smaller and there are as many sizes as there are species of the four elements hence when they are mingled with themselves and with with another there is an endless variety of them which those who would arrive at the probable truth of nature ought duly to consider the end of part four part five of Timaeus this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Anna Simon Timaeus by Plato translated by Benjamin Joe it part five Timaeus continues unless a person comes to an understanding about the nature and conditions of rest and motion he will meet with many difficulties in the discussion which follows something has been said of this matter already and something more remains to be said which is that motion never exists in what is uniform for to conceive that anything can be moved without a mover is hard or indeed impossible and equally impossible to conceive that there can be a mover unless there be something which can be moved motion cannot exist where either of these are wanting and for these to be uniform is impossible where for we must assign rest to uniformity and motion to the want of uniformity now inequality is the cause of the nature which is wanting in uniformity and of this we have already described the origin but there still remains the further point why things when divided after their kinds do not cease to pass through one another and to change their place which we will now proceed to explain in the revolution of the universe are comprehended all the four elements and this being circular and having a tendency to come together compresses everything and will not allow any place to be left void where for also fire above all things penetrates everywhere and air next as being next in rarity of the elements and the two other elements in like manner penetrate according to their degrees of rarity for those things which are composed of the largest particles have the largest void left in their compositions and those which are composed of the smallest particles have the least and the contraction caused by the compression thrusts the smaller particles into the interstices of the larger and thus when the small parts are placed side by side with the larger and the lesser divide the greater and the greater unite the lesser all the elements are born up and down and hither and thither towards their own places for the change in the size of each changes its position in space and these causes generate an inequality which is always maintained and is continually creating a perpetual motion of the elements in all time in the next place we have to consider that there are diverse kinds of fire there are for example first flame and secondly those emanations of flame which do not burn but only give light to the eyes thirdly the remains of fire which are seen in red hot embers after the flame has been extinguished there are similar differences in the air of which the brightest part is called the aether and the most turbid salt mist and darkness and there are various other nameless kinds which arise from the inequality of the triangles water again admits in the first place of a division into two kinds the one liquid and the other fusile the liquid kind is composed of the small and unequal particles of water and moves itself and is moved by other bodies owing to the want of uniformity and the shape of its particles whereas the fusile kind being formed of large and uniform particles is more stable than the other and is heavy and compact by reason of its uniformity but when fire gets in and dissolves the particles and destroys the uniformity it has greater mobility and becoming fluid is thrust forth by the neighboring air and spreads upon the earth and this dissolution of the solid masses is called melting and they're spreading out upon the earth flowing again when the fire goes out of the fusile substance it does not pass into a vacuum but into the neighboring air and the air which is displaced forces together the liquid and still movable mass into the place which was occupied by the fire and unites it with itself thus compressed the mass resumes its equability and is again at unity with itself because the fire which was the author of the inequality has retreated and this departure of the fire is called cooling and the coming together which follows upon it is termed congealment of all the kinds termed fusile that which is the densest and is formed out of the finest and most uniform parts is that most precious possession called gold which is hardened by filtration through rock this is unique in kind and has both a glittering and a yellow color a shoot of gold which is so densest to be very hard and takes a black color is turned adamant there is also another kind which has parts nearly like gold and of which there are several species it is denser than gold and it contains a small and fine portion of earth and is therefore harder yet also lighter because of the great interstices which it has within itself and this substance which is one of the bright and denser kinds of water once solidified is called copper there is an alloy of earth mingled with it which when the two parts grow old and are disunited shows itself separately and is called rust the remaining phenomena of the same kind there will be no difficulty in reasoning out by the method of probabilities a man may sometimes set aside meditations about eternal things and for recreation turned to consider the truth of generation which are probable only he will thus gain a pleasure not to be repented of and secure for himself while he lives a wise and moderate pastime let us ground ourselves this indulgence and go through the probabilities relating to the same subjects which follow next in order water which is mingled with fire so much as is fine and liquid being so called by reason of its motion and the way in which it rolls along the ground and soft because its bases give way and are less stable in those of earth when separated from fire and air and isolated becomes more uniform and by their retirement is compressed into itself and if the condensation it be very great the water above the earth becomes hail but on the earth ice and that which is congealed in a less degree and is only half solid when above the earth is called snow and when upon the earth and condensed from dew whore frost then again there are the numerous kinds of water which have been mingled with one another and are distilled through plants which grow in the earth and this whole class is called by the name of juices or saps the unequal at mixture of these fluids creates a variety of species most of them are nameless but four which are of a fearing nature are clearly distinguished and have names first there is wine which warms the soul as well as the body secondly there is the oily nature which is smooth and divides the visual ray and for this reason is bright and shining and of a glistening appearance including pitch the juice of the castaberry oil itself and other things of a like kind thirdly there is the class of substances which expand the contracted parts of the mouth until they return to their natural state and by reason of this property creates sweetness these are included under the general name of honey and lastly there is a frothy nature which differs from all juices having a burning quality which dissolves the flesh it is called opos a vegetable acid as the kinds of earth that which is filtered through water passes into stone in the following manner the water which mixes with the earth and is broken up in the process changes into air and taking this form mounts into its own place but as there is no surrounding vacuum it thrusts away the neighboring air and this being rendered heavy and when it is displaced having been poured around the mass of earth forcibly compresses it and drives it into the vacant space once the new air had come up and the earth when compressed by the air into an indissoluble union with water becomes rock the fairer sword is that which is made up of equal and similar parts and is transparent that which has the opposite qualities is inferior but when all the watery part is suddenly drawn out by fire a more brittle substance is formed to which we give the name of pottery sometimes also moisture may remain and the earth which has been fused by fire becomes when cool a certain stone of a black color a like separation of the water which had been copiously mingled with them may occur in two substances composed of finer particles of earth and of a briny nature out of either of them a half solid body is then formed soluble in water the one soda which is used for purging away oil and earth the other salt which harmonizes so well in combinations pleasing to the palette and is as the law testifies a substance dear to the gods the compounds of earth and water are not soluble by water but by fire only and for this reason neither fire nor air melt masses of earth for their particles being smaller than the interstices in its structure have plenty of room to move without forcing their way and so they leave the earth unmelted and undissolved but particles of water which are larger force a passage and dissolve and melt the earth where for earth when not consolidated by force is dissolved by water only when consolidated by nothing but fire for this is the only body which can find an entrance the cohesion of water again when very strong is dissolved by fire only when weaker then either by air or fire the former entering the interstices and the latter penetrating even the triangles but nothing can dissolve air when strongly condensed which does not reach the elements or triangles or if not strongly condensed then only fire can dissolve it as two bodies composed of earth and water while the water occupies the vacant interstices of the earth in them which are compressed by force the particles of water which approach them from without finding no entrance flow around the entire mass and leave it undissolved but the particles of fire entering into the interstices of the water due to the water what water does to earth and fire to air side note the text seems to be corrupt and side note and are the sole causes of the compound body of earth and water liquefying and becoming fluid now these bodies are of two kinds some of them such as glass and diffusable sort of stones have less water than they have earth on the other hand substances of the nature of wax and incense have more of water entering into their composition i've thus shown the various classes of bodies as they are diversified by their forms and combinations and changes into one another and now i must endeavor to set forth their affections and the causes of them in the first place the bodies which i have been describing are necessarily objects of sense but we have not yet considered the origin of flesh or what belongs to flesh or of that part of the soul which is mortal and these things cannot be adequately explained without also explaining the affections which are concerned with the sensation nor the latter without the former and yet to explain them together is hardly possible for which reason we must assume first one or the other and afterwards examine the nature of our hypothesis in order then that the affections may follow regularly after the elements let us presuppose the existence of body and soul first let us inquire what we mean by saying that fire is hot and about this we may reason from the dividing or cutting power which it exercises on our bodies we all of us feel that fire is sharp and we may further consider the fineness of the sides and the sharpness of the angles and the smallness of the particles and the swiftness of the motion all this makes the action of fire violent and sharp so that it cuts whatever it meets and we must not forget that the original figure of fire that is the pyramid more than any other form has a dividing power which cuts our bodies into small pieces and thus naturally produces that affection which we call heat and hence the origin of the name tepmos kepma now the opposite of this is sufficiently manifest nevertheless we will not fail to describe it for the larger particles of moisture which surround the body entering in and driving out the lesser but not being able to take their places compress the moist principle in us and this from being unequal and disturbed is forced by them into a state of rest which is due to equability and compression but things which are contracted contrary to nature are by nature at war and force themselves apart and to this war and convulsion the name of shivering and trembling is given and the whole affection and the cause of the affection are both termed cold that is called heart to which our flesh yields and soft which yields to our flesh and things are also termed hard and soft relatively to one another that which yields has a small base but that which rests on quadrangular basis is firmly posed and belongs to the class which offers the greatest resistance so too does that which is the most compact and therefore most repellent the nature of the light and the heavy will be best understood when examined in connection with our notions of above and below for it is quite a mistake to suppose that the universe is parted into two regions separate from and opposite to each other the one a lower to which all things tend which have any bulk and an upper to which things only ascent against their will for as the universe is in the form of a sphere all the extremities being equidistant from the center are equally extremities and the center which is equidistant from them is equally to be regarded as the opposite of them all such being the nature of the world when a person says that any of these points is above or below may he not be justly charged with using an improper expression for the center of the world cannot be rightly called either above or below but is the center and nothing else and the circumference is not the center and has in no one part of itself a different relation to the center from what it has in any of the opposite parts indeed when it is in every direction similar how can one rightly give to it names which imply opposition for if there were any solid body in equipoise at the center of the universe there would be nothing to draw it to this extreme rather than to that for they are all perfectly similar and if a person were to go around the world in a circle he would often when standing at the antipodes of his former position speak of the same point as above and below for as I was saying just now to speak of the whole which is in the form of a globe as having one part above and another below is not like a sensible man the reason why these names are used and the circumstances and the which they are ordinarily applied by us to the division of the heavens may be elucidated by the following supposition if a person were to stand in that part of the universe which is the appointed place of fire and where there is the great mass of fire to which fiery bodies gather if I say he were to ascend thither and having the power to do this were to abstract particles of fire and put them in scales and weigh them and then raising the balance were to draw the fire by force towards the uncongenial element of the air it would be very evident that he could compel the smaller mass more readily than the larger for when two things are simultaneously raised by one and the same power the smaller body must necessarily yield to the superior power with less reluctance than a larger and the larger body is called heavy and set to tend downwards and the smaller body is called light and set to tend upwards and we may detect ourselves who are upon the earth doing precisely the same thing for we often separate earthly natures and sometimes earth itself and draw them into the uncongenial element of air by force and contrary to nature both clinging to their kindred elements but that which is smaller yields to the impulse given by us towards the dissimilar element more easily than the larger and so we call the former light and the place towards which it is impelled we call above and the country stayed in place we call heavy and below respectively now the relations of these must necessarily vary because the principal masses of the different elements hold opposite positions for that which is light heavy below or above in one place will be found to be and become contrary and transverse and every way diverse in relation to that which is light heavy below or above in an opposite place and about all of them this has to be considered that the tendency of each towards its kindred element makes the body which is moved heavy and the place towards which the motion tends below but things which have an opposite tendency we call by an opposite name such are the causes which we assign to these phenomena as to the smooth and the rough anyone who sees them can explain the reason of them to another for roughness is hardness mingled with irregularity and smoothness is produced by the joint effect of uniformity and density end of part five part six of temes this is a lipovox recording all lipovox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit lipovox.org recording by Anna Simon temes by playtail translated by benjamin joe it part six temes continues the most important of the affections which concern the whole body remains to be considered that is the cause of pleasure and pain in the perceptions of which I've been speaking and in all other things which are perceived by sense through the parts of the body and have both pains and pleasures attendant on them let us imagine the causes of every affection whether of sense or not to be of the following nature remembering that we have already distinguished between the nature which is easy and which is hard to move for this is the direction in which we must hunt the prey which we mean to take a body which is of a nature to be easily moved on receiving an impression however slight spreads abroad the motion in a circle the parts communicating with each other until at last reaching the principle of mind they announce the quality of the agent but a body of the opposite kind being immobile and not extending to the surrounding region merely receives the impression and does not stir any of the neighboring parts and since the parts do not distribute the original impression to other parts it has no effect of motion on the whole animal and therefore produces no effect on the patient this is true of the bones and hair and other more earthly parts of the human body whereas what was said above relates mainly to sight and hearing because they have in them the greatest amount of fire and air now we must conceive of pleasure and pain in this way an impression produced in us country to nature and violent if sudden is painful and again the sudden return to nature is pleasant but a gentle and gradual return is imperceptible and vice versa on the other hand the impression of sense which is most easily produced is most readily felt but is not accompanied by pleasure or pain such for example are the affections of the sight which as we said above is a body naturally uniting with our body in the daytime for cuttings and burnings and other affections which happen to the sight do not give pain nor is there pleasure when the sight returns to its natural state but the sensations are clearest and strongest according to the manner in which the eye is affected by the object and itself strikes and touches it there is no violence either in the contraction or dilation of the eye but bodies formed of larger particles yield to the agent only with a struggle and then they impart their emotions to the whole and cause pleasure and pain pain when alienated from their natural conditions and pleasure when restored to them things which experience gradual withdrawings and empties of their nature and great and sudden replenishments fail to perceive the emptying but are sensible of the replenishment and so the occasion no pain but the greatest pleasure to the mortal part of the soul as is manifest in the case of perfumes but things which are changed all of a sudden and only gradually and with difficulty return to their own nature have effects in every way opposite to the former as is evident in the case of burnings and cuttings of the body thus we have discussed the general affections of the whole body and the names of the agents which produce them and now I will endeavor to speak of the affections of particular parts and the causes and agents of them as far as I am able in the first place let us set forth what was omitted when we were speaking of juices concerning the affections peculiar to the tongue these two like most of the other affections appear to be caused by certain contractions and dilations but they have besides more of roughness and smoothness than is found in other affections for whenever earthly particles enter into the small veins which are the testing instrument of the tongue reaching to the heart and fall upon the moist delicate portions of flesh when as they are dissolved they contract and dry up the little veins they are astringent if they are rougher but if not so rough then only harsh those of them which are of an absturgent nature and purge the whole surface of the tongue if they do it in excess and so encroach as to consume some part of the flesh itself like potash and soda are all turned bitter but the particles which are deficient in the alkaline quality and which cleanse only moderately are called salt and having no bitterness or roughness are regarded as rather agreeable than otherwise bodies which share in and are made smooth by the heat of the mouth and which are inflamed and again in turn inflame that which heats them and which are so light that they are carried upwards to the sensations of the head and cut all that comes in their way by reason of these qualities in them are all turned pungent but when these same particles refined by putrefaction enter into the narrow veins and are duly proportioned to the particles of earth and air which are there they set them whirling about one another and while they are in a whirl cause them to dash against and enter into one another and so form hollows surrounding the particles that enter which watery vessels of air for a film of moisture sometimes earthy sometimes pure is spread around the air are hollow spheres of water and those of them which are pure are transparent and are called bubbles while those composed of the earthy liquid which is in a state of general agitation and a fever since are set to boil or ferment of all these affections the cause is termed acid and there's the opposite affection arising from an opposite cause when the mass of entering particles immersed in the moisture of the mouth is congenial to the tongue and smooth and oils over the roughness and relaxes the parts which are unnaturally contracted and contracts the parts which are relaxed and disposes them all according to their nature that sort of remedy of violent affections is pleasant and agreeable to every man and has the name sweet but enough of this the faculty of smell does not admit of differences of kind for all smells are of a half formed nature and no element is so proportioned as to have any smell the veins about the nose are too narrow to admit earth and water and too wide to detain fire and air and for this reason no one ever perceived the smell of any of them but smells always proceed from bodies that are damp or putifying or liquefying or evaporating and are perceptible only in the intermediate state when water is changing into air and air into water and all of them are either vapor or mist that which is passing out of air into water is mist and that which is passing from water into air is vapor and hence all smells are thinner than water and thicker than air the proof of this is that when there is any obstruction to the respiration and a man draws in his breath by force then no smell filters through but the air without the smell alone penetrates where for the varieties of smell have no name and they have not many or definite and simple kinds but they are distinguished only as painful and pleasant the one sort irritating and disturbing the whole cavity which is situated between the head and the navel and the other having a soothing influence and restoring the same region to an agreeable and natural condition in considering the third kind of sense hearing we must speak of the causes in which it originates we may in general assume sound to be a blow which passes through the ears and is transmitted by means of the air the brain and the blood to the soul and that hearing is the vibration of this blow which begins in the head and ends in the region of a liver the sound which moves swiftly is acute and the sound which moves slowly is grave and that which is regular is equitable and smooth and the reverse is harsh a great body of sound is loud and a small body of sound the reverse respecting the harmonies of sound I must hear after speak there is a fourth class of sensible things having many intricate varieties which must now be distinguished they are called by the general name of colors and are a flame which emanates from every sort of body and has particles corresponding to the sense of sight I've spoken already in what has preceded of the causes which generate sight and in this place it will be natural and suitable to give a rational theory of colors of the particles coming from other bodies which fall upon the site some are smaller and some are larger and some are equal to the parts of the site itself those which are equal are imperceptible and we call them transparent the larger produce contraction the smaller dilation in the site exercising a power akin to that of hot and cold bodies on the flesh or of a stringent bodies on the tongue or of those heating bodies which we turn pungent white and black are similar effects of contraction and dilation in another sphere and for this reason have a different appearance where for we ought to turn white that which dilates the visual ray and the opposite of this is black there is also a swift emotion of a different sort of fire which strikes and dilates the ray of sight until it reaches the eyes forcing away through their passages and melting them and eliciting from them a union of fire and water which we call tears being itself an opposite fire which comes to them from an opposite direction the inner fire flashes forth like lightning and the outer finds a way in and is extinguished in the moisture and all sorts of colors are generated by the mixture this affection is termed dazzling and the object which produces it is called bright and flashing there is another sort of fire which is intermediate and which reaches and mingles with the moisture of the eye without flashing and in this the fire mingling with the ray of the moisture produces a color like blood to which we give the name of red bright you mingled with red and white gives the color called auburn greek the law of proportion however according to which the several colors are formed even if a man knew he would be foolish in telling for he could not give any necessary reason nor indeed any tolerable or probable explanation of them again red when mingled with black and white becomes purple but it becomes umber greek when the colors are burned as well as mingled and the black is more thoroughly mixed with them flame color greek is produced by a union of auburn and done greek and done by an admixture of black and white pale yellow greek by an admixture of white and auburn white and bright meeting and falling upon a full black become dark blue greek and when dark blue mingles with white a light blue greek color is formed as flame color with black makes league green greek there will be no difficulty in seeing how and by what mixtures the colors derived from these are made according to the rules of probability he however who should attempt to verify all this by experiment would forget the difference of the human and divine nature for god only has the knowledge and also the power which are able to combine many things into one and again resolve the one into many but no man either is or ever will be able to accomplish either the one or the other operation these are the elements thus of necessity then subsisting which the creator of the fairest and best of created things associated with himself when he made the self-sufficing and most perfect god using the necessary causes as his ministers in the accomplishment of his work but himself contriving the good in all his creations wherefore we may distinguish two sorts of causes the one divine and the other necessary and may seek for the divine in all things as far as our nature admits with a view to the blessed life but the necessary kind only for the sake of the divine considering that without them and when isolated from them these higher things for which we look cannot be apprehended or received or in any way shared by us seeing then that we have now prepared for our use the various classes of causes which are the material out of which the remainder of our discourse must be woven just as wood is the material of the carpenter let us revert in a few words to the point at which we began and then endeavour to add on a suitable ending to the beginning of our tale as I said at first when all things were in disorder god created in each thing in relation to itself and in all things in relation to each other all the measures and harmonies which they could possibly receive for in those days nothing had any proportion except by accident nor did any of the things which now have names deserve to be named at all as for example fire water and the rest of the elements all these the creator first said in order and out of them he constructed the universe which was a single animal comprehending in itself all other animals mortal and immortal now of the divine he himself was the creator but the creation of the mortal he committed to his offspring and they imitating him received from him the immortal principle of the soul and around this they proceeded to fashion a mortal body and made it to be the vehicle of the soul and constructed within the body a soul of another nature which was mortal subjected to terrible and irresistible affections first of all pleasure the greatest incitement to evil then pain which deters from good also rashness and fear to foolish counselors anger hard to your peace and hope easily led astray these they mingled with irrational sense and with all daring love according to necessary laws and so framed man where for fearing to pollute the divine any more than was absolutely unavoidable they gave to the mortal nature a separate habitation in another part of the body placing the neck between them to be the isthmus and boundary which they constructed between the head and breast to keep them apart and in the breast in what is turned the thorax they encased the mortal soul and as the one part of this was superior and the other inferior they divided the cavity of the thorax into two parts as the women's and men's apartments are divided in houses and placed the midriff to be a wall of partition between them that part of the inferior soul which is endowed with courage and passion and love's contention they settled nearer the head midway between the midriff and the neck in order that it might be under the rule of reason and might join with it in controlling and restraining the desires when they are no longer willing of their own accord to obey the word of command issuing from the citadel the heart the knot of the veins in the fountain the blood which raises through all the limbs was set in the place of God that when the might of passion was roused by reason making proclamation of any wrong assailing them from without or being perpetrated by the desires within quickly the whole power of feeling in the body perceiving these commands and threats might obey and flow through every turn and alley and thus allow the principle of the best to have the command in all of them but the gods for knowing that the palpitation of the heart in the expectation of danger and the swelling and excitement of passion was caused by fire formed and implanted as a supporter to the heart the lung which was in the first place soft and bloodless and also had within hollows like the pores of a sponge in order that by receiving the breath and the drink it might give coolness and the power of respiration and alleviate the heat therefore they cut the air channels leading to the lung and placed the lung about the heart as a soft spring that when passion was rife within the heart beating against the yielding body might be cooled and suffer less and might thus become more ready to join with passion in the servers of reason the part of the soul which desires meats and drinks and the other things of which it has need by reason of the bodily nature they placed between the mid rift and the boundary of the navel contriving in all this region a sort of manger for the food of the body and there they bounded down like a wild animal which was chained up with man and must be nourished if man was to exist they appointed this lower creation his place here in order that he might be always feeding at the manger and have his dwelling as far as might be from the council chamber making as little noise and disturbance as possible and permitting the best part to advise quietly for the good of the whole and knowing that this lower principle in man would not comprehend reason and even if attaining to some degree of perception would never naturally care for rational notions but that it would be led away by phantoms and visions night and day to be remedy for this guard combined with it the liver and place it in the house of the lower nature contriving that it should be solid and smooth and bright and sweet and should also have a bitter quality in order that the power of thought which proceeds from the mind might be reflected as in a mirror which receives likenesses of objects and gives back images of them to the sight and so might strike terror into their desires when making use of the bitter part of the liver to which it is akin it comes threatening and invading and diffusing this bitter element swiftly through the whole liver produces colors like bile and contracting every part makes it wrinkled and rough and twisting out of its right place and contorting the lobe and closing and shutting up the vessels and gates causes pain and loathing and the converse happens when some gentle inspiration of the understanding pictures images of an opposite character and allays the bile and bitterness by refusing to stir or touch the nature opposed to itself but by making use of the natural sweetness of the liver corrects all things and makes them to be right and smooth and free and renders the portion of the soul which resides about the liver happy and joyful enabling it to pass the night in peace and to practice divination in sleep in as much as it has no share in mind and reason for the authors of art being remembering the command of their father when he baited them create the human race as good as they could that they might correct our inferior parts and make them to attain a measure of truth place in the liver the seed of divination and herein is a proof that God has given the art of divination not to the wisdom but to the foolishness of man no man when in his widths attains prophetic truth and inspiration but when he receives the inspired word either his intelligence is enthralled in sleep or is demanded by some distemper or possession and he who would understand what he remembers to have been said whether in a dream or when he was awake by the prophetic and inspired nature or would determine by reason the meaning of the apparitions which he has seen and what indications they afford to this man or that of past present or future good and evil must first recover his wits but while he continues demanded he cannot judge of the visions which he sees or the words which he utters the ancient saying is very true that only a man who has his wits can act or judge about himself and his own affairs and for this reason it is customary to appoint interpreters to be judges of their true inspiration some persons call them prophets they are quite unaware that they are only the expositors of dark sayings and visions and are not to be called prophets at all but only interpreters of prophecy such as the nature of the liver which is placed as we have described in order that it may give prophetic intimations during the life of each individual these intimations are plainer but after his death the liver becomes blind and the liver's oracles too obscure to be intelligible the neighboring organ the spleen is situated on the left hand side and is constructed with a view of keeping the liver bright and pure like a napkin always ready prepared and at hand to clean the mirror and hence when any impurities arise in the region of the liver by reason of disorders of the body the loose nature of the spleen which is composed of a hollow and bloodless tissue receives them all and clears them away and when filled with the unclean matter swells and festers but again when the body is purged settles down into the same place as before and is humbled concerning the soul as to which part is mortal in which divine and how and why they are separated and where located if god acknowledges that we have spoken the truth then and then only can we be confident still we may venture to assert that what has been said by us is probable and will be rendered more probable by investigation let us assume this much the creation of the rest of the body follows next in order and this will be investigated in a similar manner and it appears to be very meat that the body should be framed on the following principles the authors of our race were aware that we should be intemperate in eating and drinking and take a good deal more that was necessary or proper by reason of gluttony in order then that the disease might not quickly destroy us unless our mortal race should perish without fulfilling its end intending to provide against this the gods made what is called the lower belly to be a receptacle for the superfluous meat and drink and form the convolution of the bowels so that the food might be prevented from passing quickly through and compelling the body to require more food thus producing insatiable gluttony and making the whole race an enemy to philosophy and music and rebellious against the divinous elements within us the bones and flesh and other similar parts of us were made as follows the first principle of all of them was the generation of the marrow for the bonds of life which unite the soul with the body are made fast there and they are the root and foundation of the human race the marrow itself is created out of other materials God took such of the primary triangles as were straight and smooth and were adapted by their perfection to produce fire and water and air and earth these I say he separated from their kinds and mingling them in due proportions with one another made the marrow out of them to be a universal seed of the whole race of mankind and in this seed he then planted and enclosed the souls and in the original distribution gave to the marrow as many and various forms as a different kinds of souls were hereafter to receive that which like a field was to receive the divine seed he made round every way and called that portion of the marrow brain intending that when an animal was perfected the vessels containing this substance should be the head but that which was intended to contain the remaining and mortal part of the soul he distributed into figures at once round and elongated and he called them all by the name marrow and to these as the anchors fastening the bonds of the whole soul he proceeded to fashion around them the entire framework of our body constructing for the marrow first of all a complete covering of bone bone was composed by him in the following manner having sifted pure and smooth earth he needed it and wedded it with marrow and after that he put it into fire and then into water and once more into fire and again into water in this way by frequent transfers from one to the other he made it insoluble by either out of this he fashioned as an aleth a globe made of bone which he placed around the brain and in this he left a narrow opening and around the marrow of the neck and back he formed vertebrae which he placed under one another like pivots beginning at the head and extending through the whole of the trunk thus wishing to preserve the entire seed he enclosed it in its stone like casing inserting joints and using in the formation of them the power of the other or diverse as an intermediate nature that they might have the motion and flexure then again considering that the bone would be too brittle and inflexible and one heated and again cooled would soon mortify and destroy the seed within having this in view he contrived the sinews and the flesh that so binding all the members together by the sinews which admitted of being stretched and relaxed about the vertebrae he might thus make the body capable of flexion and extension while the flesh would serve as a protection against the summer heat and against the winter cold and also against falls softly and easily yielding to external bodies like articles made of felt and containing in itself a warm moisture which in summer exudes and makes the surface damp would impart a natural coolness to the whole body and again in winter by the help of this internal warmth would form a very tolerable defense against the frost which surrounds it and attacks it from without he who modeled us considering these things mixed earth with fire and water and blended them and making a ferment of acid and salt he mingled it with them and formed soft and succulent flesh as for the sinews he made them of a mixture of bone and unfermented flesh a tempered so as to be in a mean and gave them a yellow color where for the sinews have a firmer and more glutinous nature than flesh but a softer and moisture nature than the bones with these god covered the bones and marrow binding them together by sinews and then enshrouded them all in an upper covering of flesh the more living and sensitive of the bones he enclosed in the thinnest film of flesh and those which had the least life within them in the thickest and most solid flesh so again on the joints of the bones where reason indicated that no more was required he placed only a thin covering of flesh that it might not interfere with the flexion of our bodies and make them unwieldy because difficult to move and also that it might not by being crowded and pressed and matted together destroy sensation by reason of its hardness and impair the memory and dull the edge of intelligence where for also the thighs and the shanks and the hips and the bones of the arms in the forearms and other parts which have no joints and the inner bones which on account of the rarity of the soul and the marrow are deserter of reason all these are abundantly provided to flesh but such as have minded them aren't generally less fleshy except where the creator has made some parts solely of flesh in order to give sensation as for example the tongue but commonly this is not the case for the nature which comes into being and grows up in us by a law of necessity does not admit of the combination of solid bone and much flesh with acute perceptions more than any other part the framework of the head would have had them if they could have coexisted and the human race having a strong and fleshy and sinewy head would have had a life twice or many times as long as it now has and also more healthy and free from pain but our creators considering whether they should make a longer lived race which was worse or a shorter lived race which was better came to the conclusion that everyone ought to prefer a shorter span of life which was better to a longer one which was worse and therefore they covered the head with thin bone but not with flesh and sinews since it had no joints and thus the head was added having more wisdom and sensation than the rest of the body but also being in every man far weaker for these reasons and after this manner God placed the sinews at the extremity of the head in a circle round the neck and glued them together by the principle of likeness and fastened the extremities of the jaw bones to them below the face and the other sinews he dispersed throughout the body fastening limb to limb the framers of us framed the mouth as now arranged having teeth and tongue and lips with a view to the necessary and the good contriving the way in for necessary purposes the way out for the best purposes for that is necessary which enters in and gives food to the body but the river of speech which flows out of a man and ministers to the intelligence is the fairest and noblest of all streams still the head could neither be left a bare frame of bones on account of the extremes of heat and cold in the different seasons nor yet be allowed to be wholly covered and so become dull and senseless by reason of an overgrowth of flesh the fleshy nature was not therefore wholly dried up but the large sort of peel was parted off and remained over which is now called the skin this met and grew by the help of the cerebral moisture and became the circular envelopment of the head and the moisture rising up under the sutures watered and closed in the skin upon the crown forming a sort of knot the diversity of the sutures was caused by the power of the quarters of the soul and of the food and the more these struggled against one another the more numerous they became and fewer of the struggle were less violent this skin the divine power pierced all round with fire and out of the punctures which were thus made the moisture issued forth and the liquid and heat which was pure came away and a mixed part which was composed of the same material as the skin and had a fineness equal to the punctures and was born up by its own impulse and extended far outside the head but being too slow to escape was thrust back by the external air and rolled up underneath the skin where it took root thus the hair sprang up in the skin being akin to it because it's like threads of leather but rendered harder and closer through the pressure of the cold by which each hair while in process of separation from the skin is compressed and cooled wherefore the creator formed the head hairy making use of the causes which I have mentioned and reflecting also that instead of flesh the brain needed the hair to be a light covering or guard which would give shade in summer and shelter in winter and at the same time would not impede our quickness of perception from the combination of sinew skin and bone in the structure of the finger there arises a triple compound which when dried up takes the form of one hard skin partaking of all three natures and was fabricated by these second causes but designed by mind which is the principal cause with an eye to the future for our creators well knew that women and other animals would someday be framed out of man and they further knew that many animals would require the use of nails for many purposes wherefore they fashioned in man at their first creation the rudiments of nails for this purpose and for these reasons they caused skin hair and nails to grow at the extremities of the limbs end of part six part seven of Timaeus this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Anna Simon Timaeus by Plato translated by Benjamin Joeet part seven Timaeus continues and now that all the parts and members of the mortal animal had come together since its life of necessity consisted of fire and breath and it therefore wasted away by dissolution and depletion the gods contrived the following remedy they mingled a nature akin to that of man with other forms and perceptions and thus created another kind of animal these are the trees and plants and seeds which have been improved by cultivation and are now domesticated among us anciently there are only the wild kinds which are older than the cultivated for everything that partakes of life may be truly called a living being and the animal of which we are now speaking partakes of the third kind of soul which is said to be seated between the midriff and a naval having no part in opinion or reason or mind but only in feelings of pleasure and pain and the desires which accompany them for this nature is always in a passive state revolving in and about itself repelling the motion from without and using its own and accordingly is not endowed by nature with the power of observing or reflecting on its own concerns wherefore it lives and does not differ from a living being but is fixed and rooted in the same spot having no power of self-motion now after the superior palace had created all these natures to be food for us who are of the inferior nature they cut various channels through the body as through a garden that it might be watered as from a running stream in the first place they cut two hidden channels or veins down the back where the skin and the flesh join which answered severally to the right and left side of the body these they let down along the backbone so as to have the marrow of generation between them where it was most likely to flourish and in order that the stream coming down from above might flow freely to the other parts and equalize the irrigation in the next place they divided the veins about the head and interlacing them they sent them in opposite directions those coming from the right side they sent to the left of the body and those from the left they diverted towards the right so that they and the skin might together form a bond which should fasten the head to the body since the crown of the head was not encircled by sinews and also in order that the sensations from both sides might be distributed over the whole body and next they ordered the water courses at the body in a manner which I will describe and which will be more easily understood if we begin by admitting that all things which have lesser parts retain the greater but the greater cannot retain the lesser now of all natures fire has the smallest parts and therefore penetrates through earth and water and air and their compounds nor can anything hold it and a similar principle applies to the human belly for when meets and drinks enter it it holds them but it cannot hold air and fire because the particles of which they consist are smaller than its own structure these elements therefore god employed for the sake of distributing moisture from the belly into the veins weaving together a network of fire and air like a wheel having at the entrance two lesser wheels further he constructed one of these with two openings and from the lesser wheels he extended cords reaching all round to the extremities of the network all the interior of the net he made a fire but the lesser wheels and their cavity of air the network he took and spread over the newly formed animal in the following manner he let the lesser wheels pass into the mouth there were two of them and one he led down by the air pipes into the lungs the other by the side of the air pipes into the belly the former he divided into two branches both of which he made to meet at the channels of the nose so that when the way through the mouth did not act the streams of the mouth as well were replenished through the nose with the other cavity that is of the greater wheel he enveloped the hollow parts of the body and at one time he made all this to flow into the lesser wheels quite gently for they are composed of air and at another time he caused the lesser wheels to flow back again and the net he made to find a way in and out through the poles of the body and the rays of fire which are bound fast within followed the passage of the air either way never at any time seizing so long as the mortal being holds together this process as we affirm the name giver named inspiration and expiration and all this movement active as well as passive takes place in order that the body being watered and cooled may receive nourishment and life for when the respiration is going in and out and the fire which is fast bound within follows it and ever and a non moving to and fro enters through the belly and reaches the meat and drink it dissolves them and dividing them into small portions and guiding them through the passages where it goes pumps them as from a fountain into the channels of the veins and makes the stream of the veins flow through the body and through a conduit let us once more consider the phenomena of respiration and inquire into the causes which have made it what it is they are as follows seeing that there is no such thing as a vacuum into which any of those things which are moved can enter and the breath is carried from us into the external air the next point is as will be clear to everyone that it does not go into a vacant space but pushes its neighbor out of its place and that which is thrust out in turn drives out its neighbor and in this way everything of necessity at last comes around to that place from once the breath came forth and enters in there and following the breath fills up the vacant space and this goes on like the rotation of a wheel because there can be no such thing as a vacuum where for also the breast and the lungs when they admit the breath are replenished by the air which surrounds the body and which enters in through the pores of the flesh and is driven round in a circle and again the air which is sent away and passes out through the body forces the breath inwards through the passage of the mouth and the nostrils now the origin of this movement may be supposed to be as follows in the interior of every animal the hottest part is that which is around the blood and veins it is in a manner an internal fountain of fire which we compare to the network of a creel being woven all of fire and extended through the center of the body while the outer parts are composed of air now we must admit that heat naturally proceeds outward to its own place and to its kindred element and as there are two exits for the heat the one out through the body and the other through the mouth and nostrils when it moves towards the one it drives around the air at the other and that which is driven round falls into the fire and becomes warm and that which goes forth is cooled but when the heat changes its place and the particles of the other exit grow warmer the hotter air inclining in that direction and carry towards its native element fire pushes round the air at the other and this being affected in the same way and communicating the same impulse a circular motion swaying to and fro is produced by the double process which we call inspiration and expiration the phenomena of medical cupping glasses and of the swallowing of drink and of the protection of bodies whether discharging the air or bowled along the ground are to be investigated on a similar principle and swift and slow sounds which appear to be high and low and are sometimes discordant on account of their inequality and then again harmonical on account of the equality of the motion which the excitedness for when the motions of the antecedent swifter sounds begin to pause and the two are equalized the slower sounds overtake the swifter and then propel them when they overtake them they do not intrude a new and discordant motion but introduce the beginnings of a slower which answers to the swifter as it dies away thus producing a single mixed expression out of high and low once arises a pleasure which even the unwise feel and which to the wise becomes a higher sort of delight being an imitation of divine harmony in mortal motions moreover as the flowing of water the fall of the thunderbolt and the marvels that are observed about the attraction of amber and the heraclion stones in none of these cases is there any attraction but he who investigates rightly will find that such wonderful phenomena are attributable to the combination of certain conditions the nonexistence of a vacuum the fact that objects push one another around and that they change places passing severally into their proper positions as they are divided or combined such as we've seen is the nature and such are the causes of respiration the subject in which this discussion originated for the fire cuts the food and following the breath surges up within fire and breath rising together and fling the veins by drawing up out of the belly and pouring into them the cut portions of the food and so the streams of food are kept flowing through the whole body in all animals and fresh cuttings from kindred substances whether the fruits of the earth or herb with field which god planted to be our daily food acquire all sorts of colors by their intermixture but red is the most pervading of them being created by the cutting action of fire and by the impression which it makes on a moist substance and hence the liquid which circulates in the body has a color such as we have described the liquid itself we call blood which nourishes the flesh and the whole body when all parts are watered and empty places filled now the process of repletion and evacuation is affected after the manner of the universal motion by which all kindred substances are drawn towards one another for the external elements which surround us are always causing us to consume away and distributing and sending off like to like the particles of blood too which are divided and contained within the frame of the animal as in a sort of heaven are compelled to imitate the motion of the universe each therefore of the divided parts within us being carried to its kindred nature replenishes the void when more has taken away than flows in then we decay and when less we grow and increase the frame of the entire creature when young has a triangles of each kind new and may be compared to the keel of a vessel which is just off the stocks they are locked firmly together and yet the whole mass is soft and delicate being freshly formed of marrow and nurtured on milk now when the triangles out of which meats and drinks are composed come in from without and are comprehended in the body being older and weaker than the triangles already there the frame of the body gets the better of them and its newer triangles cut them up and so the animal grows great being nourished by a multitude of similar particles but when the roots of the triangles are loosened by having undergone many conflicts with many things in the cause of time they are no longer able to cut or assimilate the food which enters but are themselves easily divided by the bodies which come in from without in this way every animal is overcome and decays and this affection is called old age and at last when the bonds by which the triangles of the marrow are united no longer hold and are parted by the strain of existence they in turn loosen the bonds of the soul and she obtaining a natural release flies away with joy for that which takes place according to nature is pleasant but that which is contrary to nature is painful and thus death if caused by disease or produced by wounds is painful and violent but that sort of death which comes with old age and fulfills the death of nature is the easiest of death and is accompanied with pleasure rather than with pain now everyone can see when diseases arise there are four natures out of which the body is compacted earth and fire and water and air and the unnatural excess or defect of these or the change of any of them from its own natural place into another or since there are more kinds than one of fire and of the other elements the assumption by any of these of a wrong kind or any similar irregularity produces disorders and diseases for when any of them is produced or changed in a manner contrary to nature the parts which were previously cool grow warm and those which were dry become moist and the light become heavy and the heavy light all sorts of changes occur for as we affirm a thing can only remain the same with itself whole and sound when the same is added to it or subtracted from it in the same respect and in the same manner and in due proportion and whatever comes or goes away in violation of these laws causes all manner of changes and infinite diseases and corruptions now there is a second class of structures which are also natural and this affords a second opportunity of observing diseases to him who would understand them for whereas marrow and bone and flesh and sinews are composed of the four elements and the blood though after another manner is likewise formed out of them most diseases originate in the way which I have described but the worst of all owe their severity to the fact that the generation of these substances proceeds in a wrong order they are then destroyed for the natural order is that the flesh and sinews should be made of blood the sinews out of the fibers to which they are kin and the flesh out of the clots which are formed when the fibers are separated and the glutinous and rich matter which comes away from the sinews and the flesh not only glues the flesh to the bones but nourishes and imparts growth to the bone which surrounds the marrow and by reason of the solidity of the bones that which filters through consists of the purest and smoothest and oiliest sort of triangles dropping like dew from the bones and watering the marrow now when each process takes place in this order health commonly results when in the opposite order disease for when the flesh becomes decomposed and sends back the wasting substance into the veins then an oversupply of blood of diverse kinds mingling with air in the veins having variegated colors and bitter properties as well as acid and saline qualities contains all sorts of bile and serum and phlegm for all things go the wrong way and having become corrupted first they taint the blood itself and then seizing to give nourishment to the body they are carried along the veins in all directions no longer preserving the order of their natural causes but at war with themselves because they receive no good from one another and are hostile to the abiding constitution of the body which they corrupt and dissolve the oldest part of the flesh which is corrupted being hard to decompose from long burning grows black and from being everywhere corroded becomes bitter and is injurious to every part of the body which is still uncorrupted sometimes when the bitter element is refined away the black part assumes an acidity which takes the place of the bitterness at other times the bitterness being tinged with blood has a better color and this when mixed with black takes the you of grass and again an Auburn color mingles with the bitter matter when new flesh is decomposed by the fire which surrounds the internal flame to all which symptoms some physician perhaps or rather some philosopher who had the power of seeing in many dissimilar things one nature deserving of a name has assigned the common name of bile but the other kinds of bile are very distinguished by their colors as for serum that sort which is the watery part of blood is innocent but that which is a secretion of black and acid bile is malignant when mingled by the power of heat with any salt substance and is then called acid phlegm again the substance which is formed by the liquefaction of new and tender flesh when air is present if inflated and encased in liquid so as to form bubbles which separately are invisible owing to their small size but when collected are of a bulk which is visible and have a white color arising out of the generation of foam all this decomposition of tender flesh when intermingled with air is turned by us white phlegm and the way or sediment of newly formed phlegm is sweat and tears and includes the various daily discharges by which the body is purified now all these become causes of disease when the blood is not replenished in a natural manner by food and drink but gains bulk from opposite sources in violation of the laws of nature when the several parts of the flesh are separated by disease if the foundation remains the power of the disorder is only half as great and there is still a prospect of an easy recovery but when that which binds the flesh to the bones is diseased and no longer being separated from the muscles and sinews seizes to give nourishment to the bone and to unite flesh and bone and from being oily and smooth and glutinous becomes rough and salt and dry owing to bad regimen then all the substance that's corrupted crumbles away under the flesh and the sinews and separates from the bone and the fleshy parts fall away from their foundation and leave the sinews bare and full of brine and the flesh again gets into the circulation of blood and makes the previously mentioned disorders still greater and if these bodily affections be severe still worse are the prior disorders as when the bone itself by reason of the density of the flesh does not obtain sufficient air but becomes moldy and hot and gangrene and receives no nutriment and the natural process is inverted and the bone crumbling passes into the food and the food into the flesh and the flesh again falling into the blood makes all melodies that may occur more virulent than those already mentioned but the worst case of all is when the marrow is diseased either from excess or defect and this is the cause of the very greatest and most fatal disorders in which the whole cause of the body is reversed there is a third class of diseases which may be conceived of as a rising in three ways for they are produced sometimes by wind and sometimes by phlegm and sometimes by bile when the lung which is the dispenser of the air to the body is obstructed by rooms and its passages are not free some of them not acting while through others too much air enters then the parts which are unrefreshed by air corrode while in other parts the excess of air forcing its way through the veins distorts them and decomposing the body is enclosed in the midst of it and occupies the mid-riff thus numberless painful diseases are produced accompanied by copious sweats and oftentimes when the flesh is dissolved in the body wind generated within and unable to escape is the source of quite as much pain as the air coming in from without but the greatest pain is felt when the wind gets about the sinews and the veins of the shoulders and swells them up and so twists back the great tendons and the sinews which are connected with them these disorders are called tetanus and opacitonus by reason of the tension which accompanies them the cure of them is difficult relief is in most cases given by fever supervening the white flam though dangerous when detained within by reason of the air bubbles yet if it can communicate with the outside air is less severe and only discolors the body generating leprous eruptions and similar diseases when it is mingled with black bile and dispersed about the course of the head which are the divinest part of us the attack if coming on in sleep is not so severe but when assailing those who are awake it is hard to be got rid of and being an affection of a sacred part is most justly called sacred an acid and salt flam again is the source of all those diseases which take the form of Qatar but they have many names because the places into which they flow are manifold inflammations of the body come from burnings and inflaming and all of them originate in bile when bile finds a means of discharge it boils up and sends forth all sorts of tumors but when imprisoned within it generates many inflammatory diseases above all when mingled with pure blood since it then displaces the fibers which are scattered about in the blood and are designed to maintain the balance of rare and dense in order that the blood may not be so liquefied by heat as to exude from the pores of the body nor again become too dense and thus find a difficulty in circulating through the veins the fibers are so constituted as to maintain this balance and if anyone brings them all together when the blood is dead and in process of cooling then the blood which remains becomes fluid but if they are left alone they soon congeal by reason of the surrounding cold the fibers having this power over the blood bile which has only stale blood and which from being flesh is dissolved again into blood at the first influx coming in little by little hot and liquid is congealed by the power of the fibers and so congealing and made to cool it produces internal cold and shuddering when it enters with more of a flood and overcomes the fibers by its heat and boiling up throws them into this order if it have power enough to maintain its supremacy it penetrates the marrow and burns up what may be termed the cables of the soul and sets her free but when there is not so much of it and the body though wasted still holds out the bile is itself mastered and is either utterly banished or is thrust through the veins into the lower or upper belly and is driven out of the body like an exile from a state in which there has been civil war whence arise diaries and dysentries and all such disorders when the constitution is disordered by excessive fire continuous heat and fever are the result when excessive air is the cause then the fever is quotidian when of water which is a more sluggish element than either fire or air then the fever is tertian when of earth which is the most sluggish of the four and is only purged away in a fourfold period the result is a quarten fever which can with difficulty be shaken off end of part seven