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Aristotle's Book Of Problems, a non-fiction book by Aristotle |
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Of The Tongue |
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_ Q. Why is the tongue full of pores? A. Because the tongue is the means whereby which we taste; and through the mouth, in the pores of the tongue, doth proceed the sense of tasting. Again, it is observed, that frothy spittle is sent into the mouth by the tongue from the lungs, moistening the meat and making it ready for digestion. Q. Why do the tongues of such as are sick of agues judge all things bitter? A. Because the stomachs of such persons are filled with choleric humours; and choler is very bitter, as appeareth by the gall; therefore this bitter fume doth infect their tongues; and so the tongue, being full of these tastes, doth judge everything bitter. Q. Why doth the tongue water when we hear sour and sharp things spoken of? A. Because the imaginative virtue or power is of greater force than the power or faculty of tasting; and when we imagine a taste, we conceive the power of tasting as a swan; there is nothing felt by the taste, but by means of the spittle the tongue doth water. Q. Why do some persons stammer and lisp? A. Sometimes through the moistness of the tongue and brain, as in children, who cannot speak plainly nor pronounce many letters. Sometimes it happeneth by reason of the shrinking of certain sinews which go to the tongue, which are corrupted with phlegm. Q. Why are the tongues of serpents and mad dogs venomous? A. Because of the malignity and tumosity of the venomous humour which predominates in them. Q. Why is a dog's tongue good for medicine, and a horse's tongue pestiferous? A. By reason of some secret property, or that the tongue of a dog is full of pores, and so doth draw and take away the viscosity of the wound. It is observed that a dog hath some humour in his tongue, with which, by licking he doth heal; but the contrary effect is the lick of a horse's tongue. Q. Why is spittle white? A. By reason of the continual moving of the tongue, whereof heat is engendered, which doth make this superfluity white; as seen in the froth of water. Q. Why is spittle unsavoury and without taste? A. If it had a certain determinate taste, then the tongue would not taste at all, but only have the taste of spittle, and could not distinguish others. Q. Why doth the spittle of one that is fasting heal an imposthume? A. Because it is well digested and made subtle. Q. Why do some abound in spittle more than others? A. This doth proceed of a phlegmatic complexion, which doth predominate in them; and such are liable to a quotidian ague, which ariseth from the predominance of phlegm; the contrary in those that spit little, because heat abounds in them, which consumes the humidity of the spittle; and so the defect of spittle is a sign of fever. Q. Why is the spittle of a man that is fasting more subtle than of one that is full? A. Because the spittle is without the viscosity of meat, which is wont to make the spittle of one who is full, gross and thick. Q. From whence proceeds the spittle of a man? A. From the froth of the lungs, which according to the physicians, is the seat of the phlegm. Q. Why are beasts when going together for generation very full of froth and foam? A. Because then the lights and heart are in greater motion of lust; therefore there is engendered in them much frothy matter. Q. Why have not birds spittle? A. Because they have very dry lungs. Q. Why doth the tongue sometimes lose the use of speaking? A. It is occasioned by a palsy or apoplexy, which is a sudden effusion of blood, and by gross humours; and sometimes also by infection of _spiritus animates_ in the middle cell of the brain which hinders the spirits from being carried to the tongue. _ |
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