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we can. But it is not possible to hold our breath for even a tenth of an hour. For the heat in us, being smothered by the soot, is extinguished and brings on death immediately. For if someone were to cover a flame in some vessel that has no ventilation, he would extinguish it, smothered by the smoky vapor. Because of this necessity, therefore, even when we are sleeping the soul is no less active in this part, knowing that if it were to relax for the shortest moment, the living creature is destroyed. So here again the psychic is interwoven with the physical. For it performs the action of respiration through the artery, a physical organ and one that is always in motion, so that its work might never cease, just like that of the other arteries. Hence some, not understanding, have considered respiration to be physical. There are three causes of respiration: need, power, and organs. The need is twofold: both the preservation of the innate heat, and the nourishment of the psychic pneuma; but the preservation of the natural heat is constituted by both inhalation and exhalation; inhalation cooling and moderately fanning the heat; and exhalation pouring out the smoky vapor from the heart. But the nourishment of the psychic pneuma is through inhalation alone. For a portion of air is drawn into it during the expansions of the heart. The power is the psychic power. For this is what moves the organs of respiration through the muscles, and first the chest. Along with this the lung is moved, and the rough arteries, being a part of the lung. For of the rough artery, the cartilaginous part is the organ of voice, but its membranous ligaments are for respiration, and the part made of both of these, the artery itself, is at the same time both a phonetic and a respiratory organ. The lung, then, is a network composed of four things: of the rough artery and the smooth one and a vein and the frothy flesh of the lung itself, which flesh fills up like packing material the spaces between the network, of the two arteries and the vein, so as to become their base and bond. And the flesh of the lung naturally concocts the pneuma just as the liver concocts the chyle from the stomach; and for this reason, just as the liver with the tips of its lobes surrounds the stomach, which needs heat, so also the lung surrounds the middle of the heart, which needs the cooling from respiration. And connected to the rough artery in continuity is the windpipe, composed of three large cartilages; and to this, the pharynx; then the mouth and the nose. For through both we draw in the air from outside; and from there it passes through the ethmoid or sponge-like bone, which was perforated so that in excesses in the quality of the air the brain might not be harmed at all, when the pneuma rushes into it all at once. And here also the Creator has used the nose for both respiration and smell, as the tongue for both voice and taste and chewing. The most vital parts, therefore, for existence itself and for the necessary needs of life, are co-distributed with the psychic powers. And if anything has been omitted from what has already been said, it will be easy to see. And just as of all things that have come to be, some have come to be for their own sake, others both for their own sake and for the sake of other things, others only for the sake of other things, and others have subsisted by accident, so also in the case of the parts of the living creature you will find the same sequence. For all the aforementioned organs of the three principles that govern the living creature have come to be for their own sake; for these have been constructed primarily and according to the first principle, which are also properly called natural, and in the womb they receive their generation from the seed itself, as do the bones. But the yellow bile is both for its own sake and for another's. For it both contributes to digestion and moves secretion, and in this way it becomes in a certain manner one part of the nutritive faculties; moreover it also provides a certain heat to the body, just like the vital power. For these reasons, therefore, it seems to have come to be for its own sake; but by cleansing the blood, for this reason it seems somehow to have come to be. And the spleen also contributes not a little to digestion. For being acidic and astringent in its nature and its

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δυνάμεθα· τὴν δὲ ἀναπνοὴν οὐδὲ δέκατον ὥρας ἐπισχεῖν οἷόν τε. καταπνιγόμενον γὰρ τὸ ἐν ἡμῖν θερμὸν ἐκ τῆς αἰθάλης κατασβέννυται καὶ παραχρῆμα θάνατον ἐπάγει. καὶ γὰρ εἰ φλόγα τις σκεπάσειεν ἐν ἀγγείῳ τινὶ διαπνοὴν οὐκ ἔχοντι ἀποσβέσειεν ἂν αὐτὴν καταπνιγεῖσαν ἀπὸ τῆς λιγνύος. διὰ ταύτην οὖν τὴν ἀνάγκην καὶ κοιμωμένων ἡμῶν οὐδὲν ἧττον ἐνεργεῖ κατὰ τοῦτο τὸ μέρος ἡ ψυχή, εἰδυῖα ὡς εἰ τὸ βραχύτατον ῥαθυμήσειε διαφθείρεται τὸ ζῷον. πάλιν οὖν ἐνταῦθα τῷ ψυχικῷ συνεπλάκη τὸ φυσικόν. δι' ἀρτηρίας γὰρ ποιεῖται τὴν ἐνέργειαν τῆς ἀναπνοῆς, ὀργάνου φυσικοῦ καὶ ἀεὶ κινουμένου, ἵνα μηδέποτε ἐπιλίπῃ τὸ ἔργον αὐτῆς, ὡς οὐδὲ τῶν ἄλλων ἀρτηριῶν. ὅθεν τινὲς οὐ συνιέντες φυσικὴν ἐνόμισαν εἶναι τὴν ἀναπνοήν. τρία δὲ τῆς ἀναπνοῆς ἐστιν αἴτια, χρεία, δύναμις, ὄργανα. χρεία μὲν διττή, φυλακή τε τῆς ἐμφύτου θερμασίας, καὶ θρέψις τοῦ ψυχικοῦ πνεύματος· ἀλλ' ἡ μὲν φυλακὴ τῆς κατὰ φύσιν θερμότητος διά τε τῆς εἰσπνοῆς καὶ τῆς ἐκπνοῆς συνίσταται· τῆς μὲν εἰσπνοῆς ψυχούσης καὶ μετρίως ἀναῤῥιπιζούσης τὸ θερμόν· τῆς δὲ ἐκπνοῆς τὸ λιγνυῶδες τῆς καρδίας ἐκχεούσης. ἡ δὲ θρέψις τοῦ ψυχικοῦ πνεύματος διὰ μόνης τῆς ἀναπνοῆς. ἕλκεται γάρ τις ἀέρος μοῖρα κατὰ τὰς διαστολὰς τῆς καρδίας εἰς αὐτήν. δύναμις δὲ ἡ ψυχική. αὕτη γάρ ἐστιν ἡ κινοῦσα τὰ ὄργανα τῆς ἀναπνοῆς διὰ τῶν μυῶν καὶ πρῶτον τὸν θώρακα. τούτῳ δὲ συγκινεῖται ὁ πνεύμων καὶ αἱ τραχεῖαι ἀρτηρίαι, μέρος οὖσαι τοῦ πνεύμονος. τῆς γὰρ τραχείας ἀρτηρίας τὸ μὲν χονδρῶδες τῆς φωνῆς ἐστιν ὄργανον, οἱ δὲ ὑμενώδεις αὐτῆς δεσμοὶ τῆς ἀναπνοῆς, τὸ δὲ ἐξ ἀμφοτέρων τούτων, αὐτὴ ἡ ἀρτηρία, φωνητικόν τε ἅμα καὶ ἀναπνευστικὸν ὄργανον. ἔστιν οὖν ὁ πνεύμων πλέγμα συγκείμενον ἐκ τεσσάρων, ἔκ τε τῆς τραχείας ἀρτηρίας καὶ τῆς λείας καὶ φλεβὸς καὶ τῆς ἀφρώδους σαρκὸς αὐτοῦ τοῦ πνεύμονος, ἥτις σὰρξ ἀναπληροῖ δίκην στοιβῆς τὰς μεταξὺ χώρας τοῦ πλέγματος, τῶν τε δύο ἀρτηριῶν καὶ τῆς φλεβός, ὥστε τούτων ἕδραν αὐτὴν καὶ δεσμὸν γενέσθαι. συμπέσσει δὲ ἡ σὰρξ τοῦ πνεύμονος φυσικῶς τὸ πνεῦμα καθάπερ τὸ ἧπαρ τὸν ἐκ τῆς κοιλίας χυμόν· καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ὥσπερ τὸ ἧπαρ ἄκροις τοῖς λοβοῖς ἑαυτοῦ περιέχει τὴν γαστέρα θερμασίας δεομένην οὕτω καὶ ὁ πνεύμων μέσην περιλαμβάνει τὴν καρδίαν δεομένην τῆς ἐκ τῆς ἀναπνοῆς περιψύξεως. συνάπτεται δὲ τῇ τραχείᾳ ἀρτηρίᾳ κατὰ τὸ συν εχὲς ὁ βρόγχος, συγκείμενος ἐκ μεγάλων τριῶν χόνδρων· τούτῳ δὲ ἡ φάρυγξ· εἶτα τὸ στόμα καὶ ἡ ῥίς. δι' ἀμφοτέρων γὰρ ἕλκομεν ἔξωθεν τὸν ἀέρα· χωρεῖ δὲ ἐντεῦθεν διὰ τοῦ ἠθμοειδοῦς ἢ σπογγοειδοῦς ὀστοῦ, ὅπερ κατετρήθη ἵνα ἐν ταῖς ὑπερβολαῖς ταῖς κατὰ ποιότητα τοῦ ἀέρος μηδὲν ὁ ἐγκέφαλος βλάπτηται, ἀθρόου τοῦ πνεύματος ἐμπίπτοντος εἰς αὐτόν. συνεχρήσατο δὲ καὶ ἐνταῦθα τῇ ῥινὶ πρός τε τὴν ἀναπνοὴν καὶ τὴν ὄσφρησιν ὁ δημιουργός, ὡς τῇ γλώττῃ πρός τε τὴν φωνὴν καὶ τὴν γεῦσιν καὶ τὴν διαμάσησιν. τὰ μὲν οὖν καιριώτατα μόρια πρός τε τὴν ὕπαρξιν αὐτὴν καὶ πρὸς τὰς ἀναγκαίας τοῦ βίου χρείας ταῖς ψυχικαῖς συνδιῄρηται δυνάμεσιν. εἰ δέ τι καὶ παραλέλειπται ἐκ τῶν ἤδη λεχθέντων εὐσύνοπτον ἔσται. ὥσπερ δὲ πάντων τῶν γενομένων τὰ μὲν δι' ἑαυτὰ γέγονε, τὰ δὲ καὶ δι' ἑαυτὰ καὶ δι' ἕτερα, τὰ δὲ δι' ἕτερα μόνον, τὰ δὲ κατὰ συμβεβηκὸς παρυπέστη, οὕτω κἀπὶ τῶν μορίων τοῦ ζῴου τὴν αὐτὴν εὑρήσεις ἀκολουθίαν. τὰ μὲν γὰρ εἰρημένα πάντα τῶν τριῶν ἀρχῶν ὄργανα τῶν διοικουσῶν τὸ ζῷον δι' ἑαυτὰ γέγονεν· ταῦτα γὰρ προηγουμένως καὶ κατὰ πρῶτον λόγον κατεσκεύασται, ἃ καὶ κατὰ φύσιν κυρίως λέγεται, καὶ ἐν τῇ μήτρᾳ ἐκ αὐτοῦ τοῦ σπέρματος λαμβάνει τὴν γένεσιν ὡς καὶ τὰ ὀστέα. ἡ δὲ ξανθὴ χολὴ καὶ δι' ἑαυτὴν καὶ δι' ἄλλο. καὶ γὰρ πρὸς πέψιν συντελεῖ καὶ κινεῖ τὴν ἔκκρισιν, καὶ γίνεται κατὰ ταῦτα τρόπον τινὰ τῶν θρεπτικῶν ἕν τι μόριον· οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ θερμασίαν τινὰ παρέχει τῷ σώματι, καθάπερ ἡ ζωτικὴ δύναμις. τούτων μὲν οὖν ἕνεκα δι' ἑαυτὴν δοκεῖ γεγονέναι· τῷ δὲ καθαίρειν τὸ αἷμα, διὰ τοῦτό πως δοκεῖ γεγονέναι. καὶ ὁ σπλὴν δὲ οὐ μικρὰ πρὸς πέψιν συμβάλλεται. ὀξώδης γὰρ ὢν καὶ στρυφνὸς τὴν φύσιν καὶ τὴν