Folio 89r - the nature of man, continued. Ysidorus de membris hominis; Isidorus on the parts of man's body
there is the origin of emotion and of thought.
The pulse, pulsus, is so called because it throbs, palpitare. From its sign we learn whether the body is in in sickness or health.
The motion is twofold, single or complex. The single motion consists of a single movement. The complex is uneven and irregular because it makes many movements, with fixed intervals between them. It strikes a dactyl as long as there is nothing wrong; if the beats are more rapid, like dorcacizontes [dorkadazontes] or fainter, like mirmizontes [murmizontes], they are a sign of death.
The veins, vena, are so called because they are the channels, vie, of flowing blood and streams which are spread throughout the whole body, by which the members are supplied with blood.
Blood, sanguis, gets its name from Greek etymology, because it is active, it survives and it has life. When it is in the body, it is called sanguis; when it pours forth, it is called gore, cruor.
It is called cruor because when it is spilled, it runs down, decurrere; or because when it runs, it sinks into the ground, corruere. Others take cruor to mean corrupt blood which is discharged from the body.
Others say blood is called sanguis because it is sweet, suavis.
Except in young people, the blood supply does not remain constant. For physicians say that it diminishes with age, which is why old people have tremors. Strictly speaking, however, blood is a property of the soul. For this reason women tear their cheeks in grief, and we furnish the dead with purple clothing and purple flowers.
Isidore on the parts of man's body
The lung, pulmo, gets its name from the Greek. The Greeks call the lung, pleumon, because it acts as a fan for the heart, in which the pneuma, that is, the spirit resides, by which they are both activated and set in motion; for this reason lungs too are called pulmones. In Greek the spirit is called pneuma; by inflating and activating, it sends out and takes in air, causing the lungs to move and throb, opening in order to catch a breath, contracting to expel it, for it is the organ of the body.
The liver, iecur
- Commentary
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Commentary
Text
Isidore on the blood and veins, lungs.
Comment
A major initial, type 3, introduces the lung (pulmo) and a section on the major soft tissue organs..
- Transcription and Translation
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Transcription
ibi sit principium cordis et cogitationis. Pulsus vocatus\ quod palpitet cuius indicio aut infirmitatem intelligi\mus aut sanitatem. Huius duplex est motus aut simplex\ aut compositus. Simplex est qui uno saltu constat. Com\positus est qui ex pluribus motibus inordinatus et inequalis\ existit qui motus certa habent spacia. Dactilium percussum quam\diu sine vicio sunt, siquando [a]ut scitatiores sunt ut dorcacizon\tes, aut leniores ut mirmizones, mortis signa sunt. Vene dic\te eo quod vie sunt natantis sanguinis atque rivi per corpus omne\ divisi, quibus universa membra irrigantur. Sanguis ex Greca\ ethimologia nomen duxit, quod vegetetur, et sustentetur et vivat.\ Sanguis autem est dum in corpore est, effusus vero cruor dicitur.\ Nam et cruor vocatus ab eo quod effusus decurrit, vel ab eo\ quod currendo corruat. Alii cruorem interpretantur sanguinem\ corruptum qui emittitur. Alii aiunt vocatum sanguinem quia\ suavis sit. Sanguis autem non est integer nisi in iuvenibus.\ Nam dicunt phisici minui sanguinem per etatem, unde in se\nibus tremorem. Proprie autem sanguis anime possessio est.\ Inde genas lacerare mulieres in luctu solent, inde et purpuree ve\ stes et flores purpurei mortuis prebentur. \ Ysidorus de membris hominis \ Pulmo ex Greco trahit vocabulum,\ pulmonem enim Greci pleumon vocant, eo\ quod cordis flebellum sit in quo pneuma\ id est spiritus inest, per quod et agitantur et moventur,\ unde et pulmones vocati sunt. Nam Grece pneuma a spiritu dicitur,\ qui flando et agitando aerem amittit et recipit, a quo mo\ventur pulmones et palpitant, et aperiendo se ut flatum capi\ant stringendo ut eiciant, est enim organum corporis. Iecur\Translation
there is the origin of emotion and of thought. The pulse, pulsus, is so called because it throbs, palpitare. From its sign we learn whether the body is in in sickness or health. The motion is twofold, single or complex. The single motion consists of a single movement. The complex is uneven and irregular because it makes many movements, with fixed intervals between them. It strikes a dactyl as long as there is nothing wrong; if the beats are more rapid, like dorcacizontes [dorkadazontes] or fainter, like mirmizontes [murmizontes], they are a sign of death. The veins, vena, are so called because they are the channels, vie, of flowing blood and streams which are spread throughout the whole body, by which the members are supplied with blood. Blood, sanguis, gets its name from Greek etymology, because it is active, it survives and it has life. When it is in the body, it is called sanguis; when it pours forth, it is called gore, cruor. It is called cruor because when it is spilled, it runs down, decurrere; or because when it runs, it sinks into the ground, corruere. Others take cruor to mean corrupt blood which is discharged from the body. Others say blood is called sanguis because it is sweet, suavis. Except in young people, the blood supply does not remain constant. For physicians say that it diminishes with age, which is why old people have tremors. Strictly speaking, however, blood is a property of the soul. For this reason women tear their cheeks in grief, and we furnish the dead with purple clothing and purple flowers. Isidore on the parts of man's body The lung, pulmo, gets its name from the Greek. The Greeks call the lung, pleumon, because it acts as a fan for the heart, in which the pneuma, that is, the spirit resides, by which they are both activated and set in motion; for this reason lungs too are called pulmones. In Greek the spirit is called pneuma; by inflating and activating, it sends out and takes in air, causing the lungs to move and throb, opening in order to catch a breath, contracting to expel it, for it is the organ of the body. The liver, iecur
