Folio 89v - the parts of man's body, continued.
gets its name because it is the seat of a fire which flies up to the brain. From there the fire is spread to the eyes and other senses and members of the body, and by its own heat, draws the moisture from food to itself and turns it into blood which supplies each part of the body with food and nourishment. Pleasure and lust reside in the liver, according to those who debate scientific matters. The extremities of the liver are filaments, fibre, like the outer parts of leaves on the vine or like projecting tongues. They are said to be so called because among pagans they were borne by soothsayers in religious rites to altars of Phoebus, so that when they had been offered up and burned, the soothsayers would receive answers. The spleen, splen, gets its name from supplementum, because it fills up the part opposite the liver lest there should be an empty space; some reckon that it was created as a seat of laughter. For we laugh with the spleen, grow angry with the bile, discern with the heart and love with the liver; the whole animal is formed from these four elements in harmony. The gall bladder, fel, is so called because it is a little bag holding the humour called bile, bilis. The gullet, stomachus, is called in Greek os because, as the door, ostium, of the belly it takes in food and sends it on to the intestines. The intestines, intestina, are so called because they are contained in the inner, interior, part of the body. They are arranged in long coils, so that they are not obstructed by food that has been swallowed. The caul, omentum, is a skin containing the greater part of the intestines; the Greeks call it epiploon. The diaphragm, disceptum intestinum, is so called because it separates the belly and other intestines from the lungs and heart. The blind intestine, cecum, is so called because it lacks an opening or exit; the Greeks call it tiaonentipon [tuphlon enteron]. The thin intestine is calledieiuna; from it comes ieiunium, fast day. The belly, venter, the bowel, alvus, and the womb, uterus, differ from each other. The belly digests food that has been swallowed and is visible from outside; it extends from the breast to the groin. It is called venter because it conveys throughout the body
Commentary

Commentary

Text

Isidore on the internal organs.

Transcription and Translation

Transcription

nomen habet eo quod ibi ignis habeat sedem qui in cerebro sub\volat. Inde ad oculos ceterosque sensus et membra diffunditur,\ et calore suo ad se succum ex cibo tractum vertit in sanguinem\ quem ad usum pascendi nutriendique singulis membris pre\bet. In iecore autem persistit voluptas et concupiscentia, iux\ta eos qui de phisicis disputant. Fibre iecoris sunt extremi\tates sicut et extreme partes foliorum in vitibus, sive quasi\ lingue eminentes, dictas autem fibras quod apud gentiles\ in sacras [sacris] ad Phebi aras ferebantur ab ariolis, quibus oblatis\ atque succensis responsa acciperent. Splen dictum a supplemento\ ex contraria parte iecoris ne vacua existeret, quem quidam\ etiam risus causa fictum existimant. Nam splene ridemus,\ felle irascimur, corde sapimus, iecore amamus, quibus quatuor\ elementis constantibus integrum est animal. Fel appellatum\ quod sit folliculus gestans humorem qui vocatur bilis.\ Stomachus Grece os vocatur, eo quod hostium ventris ipse\ cibum excipiat, atque in intestina transmittat. Intestina di\cuntur eo quod corporis interiori parte cohibentur. Que iccirco\ longis nexibus in circulorum modum ordinata sunt, ut sus\ceptis cibis non impediantur. Omentum membranum quod\ continet intestinorum maiorem partem quod eippaon\ Greci vocant. Disceptum intestinum quod discernit ventrem\ et cetera intestina a pulmonibus ad cor. Cetum intestinum\ quod sit sine foramine et exitu, quod Greci tiaonentipon di\cunt. Ieiuna tenue intestinum, unde et ieiunium dicitur.\ Venter autem et alvus, et uterus inter se differunt. Venter\ est qui acceptos cibos digerit et apparet extrinsecus, pertinetque\ a pectore ad inguinem. Et dictus venter quod per totum corpus\

Translation

gets its name because it is the seat of a fire which flies up to the brain. From there the fire is spread to the eyes and other senses and members of the body, and by its own heat, draws the moisture from food to itself and turns it into blood which supplies each part of the body with food and nourishment. Pleasure and lust reside in the liver, according to those who debate scientific matters. The extremities of the liver are filaments, fibre, like the outer parts of leaves on the vine or like projecting tongues. They are said to be so called because among pagans they were borne by soothsayers in religious rites to altars of Phoebus, so that when they had been offered up and burned, the soothsayers would receive answers. The spleen, splen, gets its name from supplementum, because it fills up the part opposite the liver lest there should be an empty space; some reckon that it was created as a seat of laughter. For we laugh with the spleen, grow angry with the bile, discern with the heart and love with the liver; the whole animal is formed from these four elements in harmony. The gall bladder, fel, is so called because it is a little bag holding the humour called bile, bilis. The gullet, stomachus, is called in Greek os because, as the door, ostium, of the belly it takes in food and sends it on to the intestines. The intestines, intestina, are so called because they are contained in the inner, interior, part of the body. They are arranged in long coils, so that they are not obstructed by food that has been swallowed. The caul, omentum, is a skin containing the greater part of the intestines; the Greeks call it epiploon. The diaphragm, disceptum intestinum, is so called because it separates the belly and other intestines from the lungs and heart. The blind intestine, cecum, is so called because it lacks an opening or exit; the Greeks call it tiaonentipon [tuphlon enteron]. The thin intestine is calledieiuna; from it comes ieiunium, fast day. The belly, venter, the bowel, alvus, and the womb, uterus, differ from each other. The belly digests food that has been swallowed and is visible from outside; it extends from the breast to the groin. It is called venter because it conveys throughout the body
Folio 89v - the parts of man's body, continued. | The Aberdeen Bestiary | The University of Aberdeen