Timaeus
of reason—all these are abundantly provided with flesh; but such
as have mind in them are in general less fleshy, except where the
creator has made some part 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 co-existed, 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 every one 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 jawbones 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 a 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 courses of the soul
and of the food, and the more these struggled against one another
the more numerous they became, and fewer if 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, was borne 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 is 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 some day be framed out of
men, and they further knew that many animals would require the
use of nails for many purposes; wherefore they fashioned in men
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.
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 were 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 the
navel, 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 powers 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 of 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 meats 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 weel, having at the
entrance two lesser weels; further he constructed one of these
with two openings, and from the lesser weels he extended cords
reaching all round to the extremities of the network. All the
interior of the net he made of fire, but the lesser weels and
their cavity, of air. The network he took and spread over the
newly-formed animal in the following manner:—He let the lesser
weels pass into the mouth; there were two of them, and one he let
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 (i.e. of the greater weel) he enveloped the
hollow parts of the body, and at one time he made all this to
flow into the lesser weels, quite gently, for they are composed
of air, and at another time he caused the lesser weels to flow
back again; and the net he made to find a way in and out through
the pores 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 ceasing 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 anon 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 as
through a conduit.
Let us once more consider the phenomena of respiration, and
enquire 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 every one, that it does not go into a
vacant space, but pushes its neighbour out of its place, and that
which is thrust out in turn drives out its neighbour; and in this
way everything of necessity at last comes round to that place
from whence 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. Wherefore also the breast and the lungs, when they
emit 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