DENTES, ALIÆq́; PARTES IN ORE

94.

We are dust and shadow! It is enough! Cease your labors,

And you, illustrious Guide and Companion of the way, Farewell:

Your honor and praises, Dissection, will always grow;

You alone destroy the whole Man for our good!

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The third wanders around the entire mouth, like a sphincter,

Drawing together the two lips in a virginal manner:

And the vessels suffuse the face with a purple fluid,

And bring favourable signs of beauty.

And that the lips, endowed with such swift sensation, swell,

Is brought about by the abundant offshoot of nerves sent hither.

Furthermore, how many muscles the lower jaw counts,

The continued series now bids to tell.

Behold! I will first present to you the pairs worthy of note,

Five of which the dissecting hand uncovers by art.

The first, with its companion, is called the Crotaphites muscle,

Which, itself the largest, surpasses the rest in strength;

This closes the opened mouth with its sinewy tendon,

When it undertakes to raise its jaw:

The one that follows in order is the first Manſorius,

Which as a grinder is accustomed to inhabit both cheeks:

The third, standing forward, prepared to move the necks,

Is wont to be called Alaris; but the exterior one:

For there is an interior one, the fourth, the other Manſorius,

Which equally raises the jaw, like a wing:

But whenever the fifth draws this, behold, downwards,

The closed mouth soon opens with a changing motion.

I consider them to be bones of their own kind, nor does the very sense

Of pain disagree, and their softness proves it.

You yourself see thirty-two in number, I believe,

And that the features of any one of these are dissimilar.

For I do not doubt at all that a more mature age

Has brought you the teeth with which we begin to be wise.

But pardon for the jokes! Now let us follow the threads to the goal,

And let us touch upon the rest of the things to be spoken of with a brief pen.

It is not solely the art of the cook to serve the fastidious Palate,

That art also pertains to our measures.

What this means, what that word intends, the matter itself will speak,

If it pleases you to properly note the base of the brain.

Like a couch, this lightly concave part of the mouth rises up,

For this reason there are those who call it the Heaven.

A soft Gland hangs from this foundation of the brain,

To which its shape perhaps gave the name of Uva.

It remains suspended by two tiny muscles,

And to these, behold, a double ligament is bound:

There are those to whom this part formerly seemed suited for voices,

Hence it was often called the plectrum of the voice;

But incorrectly; for when this is injured, the modulations of the voice

Are rarely completely impaired, if the rest are sound:

Why then will it not rather moderate the rushing ingress

Of the air, heavy with coldness?

For such air is accustomed to bring very many damages

To the tender Lung, causing Phthisis by its harshness.

Moreover there is another by no means ignoble use,

Which the Uvula, rejoicing in its prosperity, yields:

For this takes care lest the due amount of consumed drink

Should flow back into the nostrils from the wide open mouth.

De-

88.

Furthermore, it also marks the exit and origin for many

Muscles both of the tongue and of the larynx.

THE TONGUE.

And now, with so many obstacles removed either by the tongue or by the hand,

The tongue lies exposed; the goal of our labor is at hand.

From licking, by which it fulfills part of its duty,

They say the ancients imposed this name upon it.

Only one is granted to man, nor is it greater than its proper

Weight, so that it might be suited for prompt movements.

And it stands somewhat oblong, and is attached more thickly at its root,

And finally, being soft, it tapers into a graceful point.

Posteriorly, it is partly connected to the larynx,

Partly to others, of which mention has been made.

For the tonsils give their bonds, the throat gives its own

To the tongue, and indeed the muscle has great power.

Nor will due care permit the cord, which rejoices in the name

Of the frenum, to be left entirely untouched;

Quite often in newborn children the tongue is bound

Too much by this part, demanding the aid of the cutter's art.

The tongue is adorned with a thin covering full of pores,

So that flavor may better penetrate to the depths of the flesh.

Its substance in particular is worthy of note,

For scarcely any of the viscera possess a similar one:

Indeed, it is not thought by the ancients to be a muscle,

Since it lacks fibers and is not moved by them:

But now it is clear that recent scholars feel differently,

Who have dissected the tongue with a careful hand:

For they show that innumerable fibers in its soft body,

Fleshy ones, are arranged in order.

Moreover

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These lymphatic vessels are given to the nostrils, by which

The redundant lymph is secreted, and the moisture of the place.

In brutes the matter lies clear: in which the lymph frequently,

For the sake of smell, drips from both nostrils.

Meanwhile this is thicker beneath the septum, and in the column,

And adorned within by its own vibrissae.

Eight small muscles are also given to those with noses,

And a part of these extends, and a part also constricts the structure.

But what origin each of the muscles possesses,

And whither its mobile path tends?

This the watchful ministers beneath the brow will show

Far better than that labour of my Muse.

Turn your eyes here, turn your hands here, thus all things will be clear,

Whether they be tunics, or the work of a canal.

The jugular brings aid, the previously mentioned carotis brings aid,

And the threads of the nerves convey things suited for movements.

It remains that care should bring forth the diverse uses of the nose,

Care often held back by so many hidden paths.

To wit, air drawn in through the opened nostrils

Passes hastening to the interior of the brain;

And it seeks the bronchi of the lungs by a subtle course,

So that its cold breath might temper the cavities of the heart.

I am not indeed ignorant of what doubting opinion may say,

Nor is it my intention to reconcile every complexity;

But rather I review the meditations of varied inquiry,

So that he who sees better things may choose the truth.

If the opinion of the Ancients displeases anyone,

My Muse will sow no quarrels with him on that account:

For whatever of this there may be; I think it to be proven,

That signs of air are given in our blood;

But

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Moreover, I think that air is always present in the remaining juices

Throughout the whole body, and in the viscera.

Although the manner of its entry remains undecided,

Nor is it yet agreed everywhere upon certain pathways;

Nevertheless, experience demonstrates the effect of the air,

And surely teaches it in the restored blood.

If the coldness of the air seems less suitable to you,

And you fear condensing frost in the boiling river:

And hence you would prefer to subscribe to the tenets of the moderns,

Rise, come, I freely give you my consent;

The light air tempers the dense blood by thinning it,

Thus it thrives, and the mass flows more florid.

Behold! Do I please? Let the somewhat cold air also please;

This, I think, will not accord badly with the Heart.

But I proceed to briefly set forth the remaining fruits,

Which Nature produces for man, when the Nostril is healthy.

By this path, as I have said, every odor is conveyed,

Hence, when the nostril is cut off, the power just mentioned perishes.

In which parts of the Nose does the sense of smelling reside?

Hitherto the matter has been debated in ambiguous ways.

There are the mammillary processes of the Cerebrum, girded by a tunic,

Which you see animate the nerve.

And the Nose gradually drives away excrements through its canals,

Arising from the abundant fountain of the blood.

Moreover, what the action of the Nostril contributes to the voice,

Coryza, often afflicting this, teaches.

Finally, who would deny that Nostrils mutilated by an inauspicious wound

Soon disgrace the entire face?

And hence they say that girls, often about to defend their chastity,

Provided for themselves with this defense;

F Ægy-

83.

Here, their strength and gleam highly commend the teeth,

Inserted in order into well-fortified sockets.

Very many glands over the inner face of the cheeks

Spread, adorned with new vessels:

Thus also the circumference of the lips, as if with small grapes,

Which the multiplied gland forms, swells.

And to these again new vessels, varying their ducts,

Are customarily joined with nerves and distributed.

Here there is need for eyes; for who so many glands in verse

Could express, and sing of them all by their proper name?

Thus far Pindus is ignorant of so many recent vessels,

And Apollo himself discerns the difficult measures;

Indeed, Dissection, you conquer the genius of the Muse

With the knife, and the tongue with the dexterity of the hand!

Let it be enough for you to have recounted in our present verses

The principal use which the glands offer:

Namely, they all conspire in the production of saliva;

This one prepares, this one purges, that one carries forth the resources.

This is that humor which consists of various parts,

Where sulphur performs its proper role, where salt performs its task:

Without this, there is no digestion by the juices of the stomach,

And saliva imparts the first signs to the ferment.

I halt my step, hesitating lest a theory disturb me,

And oppress me with its salts, and oppress me with its sulphur:

For physicians contend, and the dispute is still before the judge,

Which the right hand would in vain wish to resolve with the knife.

Therefore, with these things dismissed, let us further observe the muscles,

By the aid of which the jaws and lips are moved:

And, although these names depart from metrical words,

It is nevertheless part of our duty even to mention them.

F 2 Commu-

84.

Therefore the muscles common to the cheeks and lips

Are four in number; two on either side:

The first has the name of Quadratus; it is broader,

Which lies everywhere covered beneath the skin of the neck:

And presently beneath this is the second, puffing out the cheeks with a full mouth,

And is round with its fleshy mass.

This one, however, rather performs its functions when inflated,

For every muscle acts by contracting.

Quite often the violence of a cynical spasm strains

The first, while it rouses unusual movements.

But the other, besides the duty common to both,

Serves the teeth, and breaks up the food.

Moreover, Nature has also granted to the lips their own muscles,

Which are accustomed to vary in number.

For some count more, and others in turn

Subtract some from these; thus each is wise in his own way.

A distinguished pair is proper to the upper lip,

Hence it rightly holds the first place:

An intermediate angle produces its true origin,

The angle descending from the nose and the eyes:

From here into the body of the upper lip, by a straight path,

The already mentioned flesh, fit for movements, is inserted.

The pair which moves the lower lip is usually called the mental pair,

Having its name from its proper function.

There are also those which at the same time perform pleasing functions for both lips,

Which delight in uniting their movement.

You observe that these muscles come forth in a threefold kind,

Nor is any lacking a notable function.

The first draws each lip upward near the temples,

The other, with its companion, draws everything downward:

The third-

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With the tongue pressed down, and the opening of the mouth pulled wide,

Now the Fauces lie open to the hands and the eyes.

In this seat presents itself the most reliable base of the Tongue,

Which they therefore not infrequently call the Bone of the Throat;

It consists of various little bones, but that one is larger,

Under which a small part, the Epiglottis, has its location;

Of this you now, (which you know are called the Horns,)

Perceive two processes, and more things worthy to be sung:

However, the names of these are less compliant to the Muse,

And the matter should rather be subjected to your eyes.

Thus also it is a difficult labor to dissect the Muscles,

Which move the said bone, with the tongue in no way resisting.

The greatest part strives to have shown four pairs,

You may find those who will wish to number a fifth.

The first pair rests anteriorly on the shield-like part,

And draws the parts towards the lower regions:

Soon the short one that follows, filled with a fleshy mass,

Lurking beneath the chin, lifts the downward-pressed weights:

But the third ends in the horns of the just-mentioned bone,

And it is round, and slender, and moves it to the sides:

The fourth pair is also slender, but longer than that one,

This draws the part to the side and downwards.

The Muse indeed remembers the numbers, if only she could hold onto the words,

And what old name each Muscle has;

But since many things are incongruous with the Roman lyre,

She abstains from delays that will yield no profit.

It remains that I briefly enumerate, what is the truer utility

Of the bone of the Throat, and the labor of its office?

Namely, as has been said, it establishes the foundations of the Tongue,

Yet it does not entirely lack mobility.

F 4 Furthermore

89.

Moreover, rising papillae protuberate from this flesh,

Which a nervous fibre sows, like a fungus.

Or you see that there are two ranine veins under the weight of the tongue,

Which the Jugular store supplies;

And the Artery contributes notable branches to these,

Or thus the full Carotis allies its wealth.

Furthermore, a white Line distinguishes the surface of the Tongue,

And alone divides it into two parts.

As for what remains, the whole of the Tongue is comprised of muscles,

Which you know can bend it in various ways.

Behold! The Stylogloſſum, the first Pair in order, draws the Tongue

Inwards at once, if one acts;

But if both play with joined forces,

The interwoven fibre will lift this burden upwards:

And the Pair Mylogloſſum follows, with which standing, towards the Palate

And to the teeth the driven flesh is lifted;

But if the muscle acts alone, with its partner resting,

It is able to animate the tongue obliquely upwards:

Now the Geneogloſſum, a stable pair in the middle of the chin,

With the tongue thrust out, a handle of strength marks:

Moreover, it draws it inwards, if the greatest portion ceases

Of the fibres, and only a trifling one acts:

The fourth Pair arises as if in the middle bone of the throat,

And concealing the Tongue, presses it with a retracting force.

The Pair Ceratogloſſum, which to the horns of the said bone

Assigns its cradle, terminates this group;

This is able to move the tongue downwards near the interior,

If each muscle correctly comes to aid;

But if by chance either muscle is drawn back,

Then each also moves it to either side.

F 5 Plu-

91.

And a nausea has been created for your intellect by repeated words,

An intellect which flatters itself with its own resources:

What would happen, if the Muse were to describe in verse

The stiff and exhausted Limbs, and the Bones?

Would she sing of nothing besides Arms bared for more than half their part,

And the spoken Names of Vessels?

Indeed, it is clear that there is a great Use for all the Limbs,

And that they hold no less weight than the rest of the dwelling,

But since the Muscle reigns there with special skill,

And directs every point with its own hand,

I know not what my verses fear, with this one as Consul,

That they refuse to carry their foot further for me;

For truly it has disturbed our ventures too much thus far,

And not rarely has it entirely refused to fit the metre.

And although our effort lifts its arms with great force,

In order to dissect those arms of the body,

And skillful Care joins both hands to the Hands,

About to explain the reserved places:

On both sides, however, the delaying Muscle stands in the way,

Slowing our verses with its names.

Otherwise, Hand, suited for the body's countless uses,

You would not depart from me so torn from the body:

And I would show what strength your Thumb supplies,

Nay, I would grant a thousand due benefits to the Fingers:

I would sing of what the Shoulders avail, what they refuse to carry,

And already mention would have been made of the Elbow.

The wise man who wishes you to be the organ of instruments,

O Hand, has expressed the matter rightly for me.

For if Use extends anything to be taken up by both,

Who, unless the ready Hand comes forth, will be fit?

Indeed,

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Nay, the dutiful Right Hand often averts heavy blows,

To which the welcome Left joins an allied hand:

Finally, who could sing the various arts which we establish with our hands,

Who could sing the games of the hands, or who their serious tasks?

Naked man, with his hands, overcomes the strength of beasts,

While he prepares weapons for himself, by which each of them perishes.

Finally, what should I report? They duly minister to Reason,

Along with Speech, the Hands; man alone has these.

Nor however, meanwhile, do the Feet lack their own weights,

Weights dutiful in diverse places.

Would anyone think the Legs a less useful weight for the Fabric,

Which are the greatest pillars of the whole house?

The rest of the viscera of the Human Body would collapse by their own mass,

If they were not kept safe by such a mass.

He walks wise, with face erect toward the stars,

And by his gait Man bears great glory.

How our Muse hastens to hasten on her own foot,

About to expound upon each Foot, nimble in its knee!

Behold the whole Foot, you will see nothing unpraiseworthy,

Its form commends all its steps by its usefulness.

The rounded Calf itself indicates a figure to be sung,

The Ankles show this, and the youthful Thigh.

And the Knee, as if bending itself of its own accord, behold,

Asks the Muse by what art she may sing this kind of duty.

But again the Muscle opposes itself with adverse daring,

And the Bones, incapable of being bent by my verses.

To confess the truth, I am unable, with so poor a vein,

To tell your so many faces, O wondrous Muscle;

Like Vertumnus you offer to me indeed a thousand figures,

And skillfully escape my feet.

Tum

93.

Then too the songs proceed with a wearied leg,

Songs hardly to be burdened with so many broken sounds.

That fame awaits crowned Poets,

Whom the inclined Muse is more wont to favour.

My Tongue longs to be silent at the sight of the Tongue,

And thus to please even in this part of its duty;

Let the Tongue be the boundary for my wearied right hand,

Since now even the sharpness of the scalpel grows dull.

If by chance the author of the Poem has pricked with sprinkled salt,

He thinks he has done everything in a harmless manner.

A pure mind always recoils from biting bile,

Nor is a savage viper fostered by scattered jests.

I have nothing to do with satire: but nor would any flavour be present,

Unless there were a grain of salt in so great a body:

Hence, Reader, you will favour our Muse and Tongue,

And the Tongue will grant the pardon for my words, which I seek.

Many things, I confess, have eluded my labour,

Nor have individual details been recited in our meters;

He who plays has his reason. Nor did I wish to teach you everything

With my poem, but to refresh you.

If nevertheless it was permitted to be useful, the subject itself has moved

The reader; for it alone favours my Elegies!

Whatever learned Moderns have discovered in these matters,

I think I have recounted a great part;

Nor, however, have we despised the ancient masters in the art,

Whom an observing hand equally elevated:

„ Foolish Novelty displeases, crazy Antiquity

„ Does not please; believe me, nothing is prior to the Truth.

Dissection, you finish this undertaken journey on the path,

While the rotting corpse bids the work to finish.

Dust

82.

And wise Egypt once punished the pacts of a stolen bed

by cutting off noses.

MOUTH, CHEEK, & LIPS.

We head for the port, a welcome place for weary ships,

and the Muse pants to see the work finished.

And now the Tongue, dutiful to us, desires deserved praises

to be sung for itself by its own examination.

Indeed, this best part desires to be resolved into its smallest parts,

so that the individual beginnings of its function may be revealed.

But for me, it has long been sticking in my dry throat,

and the repeated art weighs down my weary hands.

Lest, however, my sweat be in vain in the middle of the arena,

and hope itself fail in its desire;

I will complete what remains, or I will dissect the recesses of the Tongue,

and whatever remarkable things it contains, I will present them all.

But because we are hindered by the various parts of the Mouth,

preventing our repeated step from proceeding to the Tongue;

And not only on the outside, but also inside the mouth many stout structures

of a Rampart meet, and impose delays;

We shall first remove these from the way with our accustomed art,

and order will present all things in their distinct places.

Below the Eyes, a part presents itself equally between the Nose and the Ear,

long known by the word "apple",

And since in many people it is suffused with a red circle,

modesty is believed to sit present in this seat.

But the lower and looser part is called the Cheek,

since, as is obvious, it can be inflated.

Not far from here reside the Moustache and the lovely Philtrum,

and at the edge of the Mouth the two Lips swell.

Inside, the double Jaw contributes its share,

and from this the gaping of the Mouth derives its immense strength,

Here

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Many a gland which surrounds the root of the tongue,

Full of beneficial moisture, irrigates the part.

Thus equipped, the Tongue performs its labors,

A tongue advantageous to man in excellent ways:

For who does not know that this is the organ of Taste,

Without which there is no pleasure in the delights of food:

In order that he who eats the provided foods may chew the solid parts,

The prepared tongue assists him by rolling it well:

This is the same part with which most animals lick;

Hence it is said to hold the omen of its name.

This stands out as a gift among the gifts of Speech,

By which alone man is to be preferred to the brutes:

In the human body there is no member nobler

Than a good Tongue, and none worse than a bad one:

To many, believe me, it has often been harmful to have spoken;

And Mopsus would have been wise, if he had kept silent.

As it is an extraordinary honor to keep silence in affairs,

So on the contrary it is a notable fault to speak what should be kept silent.

Cease to wonder that Tantalus grasps at fleeing apples;

A garrulous tongue gave this to him.

So much power does the Tongue have! If the Tongue speaks

the very least,

This very least is subject to the censure of Momus!

How I fear lest he deride our Muse,

The man whom it pleases to be a Man with a Theonian tooth.

Hence, breaking off the thread, I bid farewell to the remaining labor,

And I leave the bones connected to hundreds of bones:

And the terrified Muse does not relate in verses the duty of the Foot,

Nor the duties assigned to our Hands:

Thus far she has perhaps seemed to you, O Zoilus,

To have wandered enough on that same string.

And